Sauna for banana Suckers
IITA, iNew
Enterprising farmers and national extension programs have a hot new
opportunity to profit, while helping fellow farmers switch quickly to improved,
nematode and disease-free plantain or banana suckers. The sauna for suckers is
win-win for everyone.
Here is the problem. While many plants produce hundreds, even thousands of
seeds, most bananas and plantains produce no seeds at all, just a few suckers
that grow up from the base of the plant. Invariably, new suckers carry the pests
and diseases that have infected the parent plant. In this way farmers actually
spread disease and reduce the useful life of their fields.
An IITA research team, working with partners in a regional banana and
plantain program based in Cameroon (CARBAP), and supported by the  Belgian
Development Corporation (DGDC) and the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), have devised and marketed a novel solution to the problem.
The technique unlocks the potential of suckers to produce up to 50 new plants.
All it takes is skill with a sharp knife to remove suckers and cut them at just
the right places on the growing part of the stem to stimulate new growth. After
immersion in an artificial growth medium, new sprouts appear. When planted in
sawdust in a warm, humid environment--a sauna for the suckers--they develop into
full-fledged plantlets, taking nutrients from some of the original stem that is
planted with them.
The sauna itself is easy and inexpensive to build from readily available
materials. It needs sunlight and a source of water to keep the sawdust damp and
is made from wood and plastic sheeting. To keep the temperature inside from
getting too high, a canopy shades the growth chambers.
Using
this method, thousands of healthy young plants can be ready for distribution in
a short time. Farmers in both Cameroon and Nigeria are willing to pay for the
clean, improved suckers. Sales of the plantlets at up to US$.50 each can produce
a profit for the extension office or enterprising farmer. For example, Mr J.O.
Adjarho, a farmer in Nigeria's Delta State, made more than US$1000 in the past
four months from the sale of plantlets. He is finding it difficult to keep up
with demand. Now that's a hot problem!
More information:
International institute of tropical agriculture (IITA).
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