matooke Archives - IITA News

Progressive heterobeltiosis for bunch weight in bred ‘Matooke’ banana hybrids (NARITAs). A: ‘Entukura’ (3x female grandparent), B: ‘1438K-1’ (4x female parent) and C: ‘NARITA 17’ (3x hybrid)

Banana hybrids can more than double the yield of best parents

Hybrid crops are expected to have higher edible yields than their parents, but by how much? A team of researchers comparing the performance of the East Africa Highland banana, locally known as ‘Matooke’, found that some hybrids had bunch weights that were up to two and a half times heavier than those of their best…

Head of IITA’s banana breeding program receives dedicated scientist award at the International Banana Conference

The Head of IITA’s banana breeding program, Rony Swennen received the “Dedicated Scientist Award for his exemplary commitment to Banana research” during an International Conference on Banana held in Trichy, India on 22–25 February 2020. Swennen also gave the first keynote presentation of the conference on “Breeding plantain and cooking banana (Matooke and Mchare) hybrids…

Tanzania’s traditional cooking banana yields more than expected!

The yield potential of an important cooking banana in Tanzania, known as Mchare, has exceeded expectations! Yields of up to 51 t/ha/year were obtained by the study team. Mchare, alongside Uganda’s “Matooke” is one of the East Africa Highland (EAHB) bananas that are cultivated both for food and income by millions of smallholder farmers in…