{"id":16762,"date":"2026-06-20T12:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-led-project-on-breeding-better-banana-surpasses-major-targets-as-it-moves-into-its-third-year\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:43:29","slug":"iita-led-project-on-breeding-better-banana-surpasses-major-targets-as-it-moves-into-its-third-year","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-led-project-on-breeding-better-banana-surpasses-major-targets-as-it-moves-into-its-third-year\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA-led project on breeding better banana surpasses major targets as it moves into its third year"},"content":{"rendered":"
A team of international banana experts have developed 48 hybrids of\u00a0Matooke<\/em>, a popular cooking banana in the highlands of Eastern Africa, that are now under field assessment in Uganda to select those with the highest yields and confirm resistance to four major pests and diseases.<\/h5>\nThe hybrids are one of the key achievements of a five-year, multi-partnership initiative to deliver improved varieties of cooking banana to smallholder farmers in Uganda and Tanzania.\n\nThis was one of the accomplishments reported by the team at its third annual planning and review meeting on 24-26 April, in Kampala, Uganda, hosted by the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO<\/a>)\u2015a key partner in the project. The team said that this was far above its target for Year 3 and if this pace were to be maintained, the project would outperform its goals.\n
\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Rony Swennen explaining the hybrid breeding process that led to NARITA.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nThe project brings together experts from banana breeding programs across the world including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, India, Kenya, Malaysia, South Africa, Sweden, and the USA to work with the teams in Tanzania and Uganda.\n\nIt is led by IITA and funded by\u00a0Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates<\/a>.\n

Banana hybrids hailed as a move in the right direction!<\/h3>\nThe meeting was officially opened by Ambrose Agona, Director General of NARO, who hailed the project as well thought out in its approach to increase the productivity of banana.\n\n\u201cMost of the gains made in agricultural production in many countries in Africa have been made as a result of the expansion of agricultural land. However, we need to intensify production to increase yields of major crops. Therefore, the project\u2019s objective of developing high-yielding banana hybrids is a move in the right direction,\u201d he said.\n\nAlso speaking at the meeting,\u00a0Victor Manyong<\/a>, IITA Director for Eastern Africa, noted that banana was not only a major food crop for smallholders but also a major commodity. Therefore, any efforts to increase the crop\u2019s production would also translate into an improvement of their livelihoods.\n

Building an efficient banana breeding program<\/h3>\nThe aim of the project is to develop hybrid banana varieties with an increase of 30% in yield and 50% in resistance to at least three of the major pests and diseases compared with the varieties currently grown by the farmers under the same on-farm conditions.\n\n\u201cWe are supporting the national breeding systems to make them more efficient and vibrant. At the end of five years, we want to deliver hybrid banana of\u00a0Matooke<\/em>\u00a0et\u00a0Mchare<\/em>\u00a0that are not only high yielding and disease resistant but also meet the needs and preferences of the end-user,\u201d says\u00a0Rony Swennen<\/a>, Banana Breeder at IITA and the project\u2019s Team Leader.\n\n\u201cWe are ahead of our main target as currently we have already developed 48\u00a0Matooke<\/em>\u00a0hybrids which are headed for Preliminary Yield Trials and we have many more in the pipeline,\u201d he added.\n\nThe project is focusing on the two most popular types of East African Highland cooking banana,\u00a0Matooke<\/em>\u00a0in Uganda and\u00a0Mchare<\/em>\u00a0in Tanzania, and the two major diseases attacking the crop\u2015Fusarium Wilt<\/a>\u00a0et\u00a0Black Leaf Streak<\/a>\u00a0(Sigatoka disease), and two major pests\u2015parasitic nematodes (microscopic worms) and weevils.\n\n\u201cIn addition to the 48 hybrids, we have six other trials from which we expect to select over 600 hybrids for Preliminary Field Trials. We have also delivered great results on developing seeds for crossing to support the breeding work, adds Jerome Kubiriba from NARO who is also the team leader for the project\u2019s breeding efforts.\n\nBananas are sterile with very low seed sets making breeding very difficult. Researchers have to force them to develop seeds for crossing and developing varieties.\n\n\u201cHowever, the varieties still have a long way to go before getting into the farmer\u2019s hands. Usually it can take up to 20 years to develop new banana varieties but with this project, working with breeders from all over the world, we are exploring novel ways to reduce this time.\u201d NARO is leading the project\u2019s banana breeding efforts\u2015the largest and most important component.\n

Tools to speed up banana breeding<\/h3>\nThe project has also brought on board different experts to support and work alongside the breeding team to speed up and ease the lengthy and complicated banana breeding process. They have also made great progress in their objectives.\n\nRapid screening of diseases against pathogens and pests<\/em>\n\n\u201cWe have collected a lot of information on the most important disease pathogens and pests of the crop we are addressing\u2015Fusarium Wilt and Black Sigatoka, and nematodes and weevils. We have also developed rapid screening methods that can help reduce to a half or a quarter the time it takes for breeders to screen their varieties for resistance.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese tools will also contribute to speeding up banana breeding efforts globally,\u201d says Albertus Viljoen from the University of Stellenbosch, who is leading these efforts.\n\nDeveloping molecular tools to hasten screening for resistance<\/em>\n\nThe project\u2019s molecular biologists are developing biotech tools to support breeders in early screening. These include molecular markers that help breeders detect early in the breeding process the presence of the genes associated with the desired traits, such as resistance to pests and diseases, and only plantlets with those genes proceed for field trials.\n\n\u201cWe are mapping genetic markers to help us identify genes that control pest and disease resistance in the plants. We have also developed models for predicting yield and other traits based on genotypic markers which we will be evaluating in the coming years,\u201d says\u00a0Brigitte Uwimana<\/a>, a molecular breeder with IITA-Uganda.\n\nMusabase \u2013 supporting data collection, storage, and sharing<\/em>\n\nData collection and analysis are a big part of the breeding effort; to facilitate this, the project has supported the development of digital tools including a database and a mobile data collection app.\n\n\u201cIf you want to use modern breeding techniques, you will need to collect a lot of genotypic (genetic) and phenotypic (physical) data. To do this you need a good database to efficiently store and share all these data. The Musabase is a database specifically for banana breeders. It will also help to create synergies across the teams,\u201d says Lukas Mueller of the Boyce Thompson Institute\u2014who is leading the bioinformatics efforts.\n\nA mobile app adapted to breeders\u2019 needs in the field has also been developed to allow real time collection of data. The app is being tested with the team in Arusha before being rolled out to the rest of the team.\n\n\u201cThe database and mobile app will ensure data are collected, analyzed, and stored without leaving the digital ecosystem. We have also trained many researchers and technical staff in data collection and use of the database,\u201d Mueller said.\n\nField testing hybrids from previous IITA & NARO collaboration<\/em>\n\nPast collaboration between IITA and NARO saw the development of 27 early\u00a0Matooke<\/em>\u00a0hybrids named NARITA. Two of these were formally released by NARO in 2010 in Uganda and are now being grown in at least 15% of the banana farms in Uganda.\n\nThe project is supporting the evaluation of 20 of these NARITA hybrids in Uganda and Tanzania for local suitability and acceptance by farmers.\n\n\u201cWe are evaluating the NARITAs in five field locations in the two countries to recommend for official release those that have the highest levels of yield and disease resistance and meet farmers\u2019 needs,\u201d says Inge Van den Bergh from Bioversity International and leader of this objective.\n\n\u201cWe have also conducted a baseline survey to understand the traits farmers look for in banana. We have interviewed over 1,000 households and held over 100 focus group discussions; we are analyzing the data. These will be shared with the breeders to assist them in breeding banana that meet farmers\u2019 and other end-users\u2019 needs.\u201d\n\nThe tools and methodologies developed by the project will also support banana breeding all over the world.\n
\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Group photo of participants<\/p>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A team of international banana experts have developed 48 hybrids of Matooke, a popular cooking banana in the highlands of Eastern Africa<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":16763,"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 center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[27],"news-type":[],"hub":[62],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[195],"class_list":["post-16762","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-tanzania","hub-eastern-africa","item-year-195"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24107,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16762\/revisions\/24107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=16762"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=16762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}