Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

156 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 1
research were also provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
for three years (1991-1993).
The programme is made up of a multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional team of
scientists working to address the constraints to production. Some of the research
findings and recommendations are as follows:
• Documentation of black Sigatoka disease spread in Ghana.
• Documentation of plantain-based farming systems in Ghana.
• Collected available local germplasm and some exotic types.
• Screening of conventional fungicides to determine their efficacy against the black
Sigatoka disease in a semi-deciduous ecosystem. For example, Tilt (Propiconazole)
and Bayfidan (Tridimenol) at the rates of 10 ml per litre of water and 75 g/plant respectively,
are effective against black Sigatoka disease.
• Evaluation of Musa hybrids from FHIA and IITA for resistance to black Sigatoka
disease: FHIA-01 (dessert banana), and FHIA-21 (plantain) are resistant to black
Sigatoka while FHIA-03 (cooking banana) is tolerant. They are also resistant to banana
weevil damage. The IITA plantain hybrids, 2481, 548-9 and 2637-49 are also
resistant to black Sigatoka. They produce higher yields than local cultivars. Fruits of
these hybrids are acceptable to consumers. FHIA-01 is excellent as a dessert banana;
FHIA-03 is good when used for baked and fried food preparations when ripe; FHIA-21
and IITA hybrids are excellent for the principal dishes “ampesi” and “fufu”.
• The “split corm” technique as an appropriate rapid multiplication method has been
recommended for farmers’ adoption.
• Production throughout the year by planting in different months whenever there is
moisture for plant establishment besides March and April has been recommended.
Minor season planting also allows the plants to escape stem lodging, which always
follows dehydration resulting from the December-February drought.
• Guinea grass as mulch at 40 t/ha has been recommended.
• Poultry manure applied at 3 kg/planting hole as a soil amendment has been recommended
as a good substitute for mineral fertilisers.
• Hand weeding at monthly intervals for three months followed by weeding at three
monthly intervals is recommended for maximum yield.
• For maximum yield it is recommended that not more than three daughter suckers
should be allowed to grow from the mother sucker.
• Flemingia congesta, a multipurpose leguminous shrub, which suppresses nematodes
and favours moisture conservation, is recommended for alley cropping as a source of
mulch.
Technology transfer
The developed improved technologies and findings have been disseminated to farmers,
field staff and training officers of Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and other
user agencies through field days, radio broadcasts, demonstration plots, training, etc.