{"id":13193,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/preliminary-results-of-narita-hybrids-trials-show-high-yield-potential-to-increase-banana-production\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:40:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:40:48","slug":"preliminary-results-of-narita-hybrids-trials-show-high-yield-potential-to-increase-banana-production","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/preliminary-results-of-narita-hybrids-trials-show-high-yield-potential-to-increase-banana-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Preliminary results of NARITA hybrids trials show high yield potential to increase banana production"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure id=\"attachment_10249\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10249\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Banana-being-transported-to-a-market.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10249\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Banana-being-transported-to-a-market.jpg\" alt=\"Banana being transported to a market\" width=\"250\" height=\"184\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10249\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Banana being transported to a market<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ug andan National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO)  and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have released the first report on the preliminary performance trials of the first ever hybrid varieties of the East Africa highl and banana, jointly developed by the two organizations for food  and juice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the trial results, these hybrid varieties known as NARITA (NARO-IITA), performed better than the local check across all traits being evaluated. For example, 96% of the hybrids had a bunch weight greater than that of the local check. The bunch weight varied up to 28.4 kg, with an overall mean of 18.3 kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hybrids were developed from over 20 years of research to address the major threats to the crop\u2019s production in East  and Central Africa including pests (banana weevils  and nematodes)  and diseases (Fusarium wilt  and black Sigatoka) that resulted in the currently low yield in smallholder farmers\u2019 fields. This in turn has had a negative impact on food security  and the income of millions of smallholder farmers. In Ug anda, for example, banana occupies the largest cultivated area among staple food crops with more than 75% of farmers growing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The evaluation of 25 out of 27 existing NARITA hybrids (18 for food  and seven for [icon name=&#8221;align-center&#8221; class=&#8221;&#8221; unprefixed_class=&#8221;&#8221;]juice), was conducted at Namulonge in central Ug anda. The hybrids were evaluated for performance, adaptability,  and stability against local East Africa highl and bananas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The preliminary results therefore show that these hybrids have potential to increase banana production in Ug anda, Tanzania,  and the highl ands of East Africa. Further testing is now planned in Ug anda  and Tanzania across multiple locations  and involving farmers to assess performance on farmers\u2019 fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report is available on the website of both institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Download &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.iita.org\/c\/document_library\/get_file?uuid=b9b48a00-2e85-42e5-b542-57a58cb15cf6&amp;groupId=25357\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Performance of NARITA banana hybrids in the preliminary yield trial, Ug anda<\/a>&#8221; report<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ug andan National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.banana.go.ug\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Banana Research Program website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>###<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For more information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>NARO<\/strong><br>Dr Robooni Tumuhimbise, Banana Breeder, NARO, E-mail: <a>rtumuhimbise@hotmail.com<\/a>; Tel. +256778455710<br>Dr Jerome Kubiriba, Programme Leader, National Banana Research Programme, NARO; E-mail: <a>jkubiriba2012@gmail.com<\/a>; Tel. +256 773 155 760<br>Professor Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, Director of Research-NARL, NARO, E-mail: <a>wktush@kari.go.ug<\/a> , <a>banana@imul.com<\/a>; Tel. +256 414567649<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>IITA<\/strong><br>Professor Rony Swennen, Banana breeder, IITA \u2013 Tanzania, tel: +32 16 32 14 20, E-mail: <a>r.swennen@cgiar.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have released the first report on the preliminary performance trials of the first ever hybrid varieties of the East Africa highland banana, jointly developed by the two organizations for food and juice&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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