The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) and AvaGro have both expressed satisfaction with the significant milestones achieved in their joint Banana Project.
Last month, the project successfully planted 2,222 tissue culture banana seedlings of two varieties during its first field trial on a one-hectare (1ha) plot at Mango Vuluzi farm in the Singalamwe area in the Zambezi production zone.
The Banana Project stems from a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two organisations in October last year, which is aimed at developing Namibia’s banana industry
through research and development.
Together, the organisations aim to assess and identify various banana varieties that demonstrate superior performance across the different agro-ecological zones of Namibia.
This initiative also seeks to promote the commercialisation of banana production by addressing a key obstacle in the country: the scarcity of high-quality, disease-free banana seedlings which are adaptable to Namibia’s soil and climatic conditions.
This initiative also stems from the fact that bananas are the number two most-consumed fruit in Namibia, and the country currently relies on 100% imports to fill the domestic demand gap.
Calicious Sommone, the recipient of the first project field trial in Mango Vulizi, expressed gratitude to the two organisations for having been selected and provided with the opportunity to participate in the banana field trials.
The planted tissue culture plants consisted of 2,000 Grand Naine and 222 Williams banana varieties, all obtained from
Pasture Valley, a fully-registered company and horticultural supplier from Eswatini.
The supplier also renders technical support to the Banana Project task team consisting of NAB and AvaGro technical staff, and the participating farmers.
The Banana Project plans to increase the number of field trial sites to cover various agro-ecological zones across the country in the next 12 months. To facilitate this expansion, soil and water samples have been collected from potential sites to undergo testing to assess the land suitability for
banana cultivation by participating farmers.
The NAB and AvaGro remain steadfast in providing relevant and comprehensive crop value-chain research in the agronomic and horticulture industry.