Banana, the intensely satisfying and energizing fruit, is commonly available across the globe. A powerhouse of nutrition, it is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, potassium, magnesium and much more. Banana has fantastic health benefits which make it a favorite fruit to include in the everyday diet.
Banana cultivation is becoming a lucrative agricultural business in Kenya. In today’s scenario, banana plantations are undergoing a significant shift and are becoming more technology and growth driven.
Newer techniques, like ‘Tissue Culture’ aid this move towards productive growth, by lowering the risks involved in banana cultivation. This is done while ensuring a higher production of the fruit.
Twende Pamoja Organization through Enterprise department has been supportive to Girls from vulnerable families within Ndhiwa through the growing of Tissue Culture Banana both in schools and back at home.
All 16 partner schools have School Business Farms (SBF) where they grow crops both short term and long term, out of 16 schools 14 have pure Banana farms. All the incomes from these banana farms are used to support Girls from vulnerable families with school uniforms and levies that are needed in schools. Head teachers are the managers here and in these 14 schools we have not experience any failure and thumbs up for the Head teacher for their good work.
In every school there is a group called 4K Club which is taking care of the Banana Farm, this club comprise of 10 pupils. These pupils are part of the team being help with the produce and schools like Koduogo and Arina not only supports the pupils with basic needs but as well provided them with seeds (suckers) which they take home, and good numbers of families have their small banana gardens through this brilliant idea. Twende Pamoja recommend this and advise other remaining schools to implement this once their plants has enough suckers so that community at large should benefit.
Since this program was rolled out many pupils have benefited, over 200 pupils, from 14 partner schools have benefited on the produce and over 150 families has well have benefited through their girls who come back home with banana seeds (suckers) from schools.
Based on the research two varieties of banana can do better in Ndhiwa region, these are Giant Cavendish & Williams hybrid both the two are Ripening types. We have confirmed it, they are doing best indeed.
Through the effort of our qualified personnel who dedicated their time, many lives have been changed either directly or indirectly and vulnerable girls can have a smile as there are hopes on their future lives, you educate a Girl you educate a whole community.
Personnel from Enterprise department trained teachers from each school, Staff and other beneficiaries on how to raise and maintain the banana farm, and this had been successfully implemented and that is why the produce are of high quality and quantity, we honor your hard work team.
WHY TISSUE CULTURE
Tissue culture is a modern technology that is transforming agriculture across the globe. The traditional farming methods often fall short when meeting commercial demands and farmers are turning to tissue culture for high yielding and uniform crops.
Cultivators using traditional banana farming methods began to encounter issues such as lengthy gestation periods, low yields, excessive flood irrigation leading to high mortality rates, and difficulty propagating disease-free uniform suckers.
These challenges could be attributed to a variety of factors, such as a lack of disease-free plants and planting materials, or farmers who have not been exposed to high tech cultivation techniques.
The uniformity that tissue culture can offer is one of its greatest advantages over the more conventional and traditional farming techniques.
Gene Selection
Tissue culture techniques give farmers the opportunity to select genetics they wish to propagate on a mass scale. This can be done with genetic transformation or selection and will usually involve some type of gene preservation.
Genetic profiles that have high yields will be able to be mass propagated, and the healthy growth and development in the initial culturing stages will lead to optimal returns.
Gene Preservation
Tissue culture allows a plant to carry the exact genetic lineage of its mother plant. A well-managed tissue culture operation should have little to no crop variation, allowing genetic lineages to be preserved.
Smoother Field Transition
The tissue culture saplings tend to have a smoother transition into the field. This can be attributed to the healthy root systems they have developed through accelerated growth and nutrition intake.
Disease Free
The planting material will be free of pests, diseases, and viruses. During the culturing process, PPM can be added to the media which reduces and prevents microbial contamination.
Uniformity and Consistency
Tissue culture offers uniform crops, while suckers will not carry the genetic profile. This means that the cultured crops will have consistent growth, and harvests will become regular.
Early Crop Maturation
What’s more, the tissue culture process instigates early crop maturation, which means that farmers can make the most of a shorter harvesting period. With this shortened period, farmers will have an increased ability to meet market demands.
If farmers use tissue culture successfully, healthy plants and fruit can be supplied year-round. A high percentage of plants will bear bunches (up to 98% of plants could be successful). These high yielding plants could lead to stabilized profits.
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