South Africa:
Researchers finding success in development of banana clones
Using the natural process of somaclonal variation, six new selections have so far been produced from thousands of tissue cultured parent plants, concentrating mainly on the two main commercial cultivars, Williams and Grand Nain.
The improved attributes are related to improved bunch conformation, reduced plant height, reduced crop cycle time and higher yield/ha/annum. They are not selected for sigatoka or panama disease resistance/tolerance which requires a separate somaclonal selection approach in areas of high disease pressure. Following three crop cycles and data collection from the tissue-cultured parent plants, the superior clones could be identified and further evaluated.
Du Roi Laboratory has released a short stature, short cycling Williams clone called Asdia which is both higher yielding and easier to manage than the parent Williams. Two vigorous and high-yielding Grand Nain clones, Nandi and Grand Negra, have also been released. These Du Roi single clones have already been well accepted in Southern Africa, and have also been extensively tested in the tropics by independent research organisations in Costa Fica, Honduras and Cameroon, with promising results.
There has been no conventional cross-breeding or genetic modification involved in this programme. Currently, some phase two single clone selections have been identified from tissue culture progeny derived from the original clones.
For more information:
Anne Davson
Du Roi Laboratory
Tel: +27 15 345 1217
Email: orders@duroilab.co.za
or duroilab@mweb.co.za