
Michael Batte, a Ugandan, is a Postdoctoral Breeder in the banana breeding unit at IITA, Sendusu, Uganda. He obtained his B.Sc. in Botany and Biochemistry and M.Sc. in Crop Science from Makerere University (Uganda) in 2000 and 2008, respectively. He obtained his PhD in Agricultural Sciences specializing in Plant Breeding, from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) – Sweden.
Michael has more than twenty-two years of experience working with bananas with both the national program and international research centers.
Before taking up this position, he was a Postdoctoral fellow at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences since October 2021. He worked in the banana breeding unit, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture as a Research Associate, from 2007 to 2021. His main responsibility was to support the banana breeder in carrying out research to improve highland cooking bananas for East Africa, with a focus on improved yields, quality, and host plant resistance.
Prior to joining IITA, he worked as Research Assistant, in the National Banana Research Program of Uganda (NARO) from 2001 to 2007. His duties were to design banana crossing schemes, selection of parental lines, hybrid development, hybrid evaluation, hybrid selection, and promotion to farmers.
Dr. Batte is a plant breeder, and he will be breeding East African highland bananas (matooke) according to the target product profile.
Program