Source: Jonathan Mason, Observer
The St. Lucia government announced this week that 110 banana farmers attended two special workshops organized and conducted by the Taiwan Technical Mission in collaboration with the Banana Productivity Improvement Project (BPIP) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives.
The workshops, were designed to expose banana farmers to a new banana variety introduced to Saint Lucia by the Taiwan Technical Mission.
The BPIP, in conjunction with the Taiwan Technical Mission embarked on a trial with the new variety of banana plants believed to be better suited to withstand strong winds and adapted to climate change.
In late 2018 the Taiwan Technical Mission imported the ‘Tai-Chiao No.2’ tissue cultured plants from Taiwan. Over the past twenty months, these plants have acclimatized and continued to grow in Agricultural Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 7, and Region 8, in total of 7 trial plots. In June 2019, a demonstration plot with both plants of ‘Tai-Chiao No.2’ and ‘Valery’ was established at Union.
The trial of ‘Tai-Chiao No.2’ produced its first harvest in January 2020.
The farmers used to propagate the bananas through conventional planting material without replacing the new seedlings for several years in Saint Lucia. However, the banana plants keep growing taller and higher and it becomes more difficult for farmers to maintain the good practices of banana cultivation.
It also becomes hard to control the plant disease and insect pressure in the banana field. Moreover, the banana trees were more easily damaged by strong winds and torrential rains.
This traditional method of banana breeding made it harder to meet production targets for export to Europe.
Although some farmers traditionally used a rope to physically restrict the height of the banana plant, the effect was limited.
After completion of surveys, the results reveal that this new variety is shorter height, less prone to wind damage, and produce fruits faster.
During the workshop farmers were able to see the differences and similarities between the local ‘Valery’ and the ‘Tai-Chiao No.2’ varieties. In addition, a sensory analysis of the fruits from both varieties was conducted. Farmers were provided the opportunity to compare the fruits of the two varieties and determine whether the fruits could be differentiated. Afterwards, the farmers were asked to cast a vote on their likeliness to purchase and preference.
The BPIP has embarked on the procurement of 20,000 tissue culture ‘Tai-Chiao No.2’ to be made available for sale to farmers interested in replanting their fields with the new variety.
This new variety of banana can aid farmers in the improvement of productivity on their farms as well as aid farmers in making their farms more sustainable.
Update: Further investigation has revealed that the Tai-Chiao No.2 banana cultures are descendants of a semi-dwarf banana plant that originated in Barbados.