Namibia has commenced a banana industry development trial with the planting of 2,222 banana seedlings at Mango Vuluzi farm, in the Singalamwe area of the Zambezi region.
The trial, spearheaded by the Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) and AvaGro, aims to develop a banana industry in Namibia, with plans underway to increase the trial sites over the next 12 months.
“On the 27th of February 2024, the project successfully planted 2,000 Grand Naine and 222 Williams banana varieties on one hectare of land. All seeds were obtained from Pasture Valley, a fully registered company and horticulture supplier from Eswatini. The supplier also provides technical support to the Banana Project task team consisting of NAB and AvaGro technical staff, and the participating farmers,” said NAB Spokesperson Auguste Fabian.
“The Banana Project plans to increase the number of field trial sites to cover various agro-ecological zones across the country in the next 12 months. To facilitate this expansion, soil and water samples have been collected from potential sites to undergo testing to assess the land suitability for banana cultivation by participating farmers.”
Fabian said the Banana Project stems from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the NAB and AvaGro in October 2023, aimed at developing Namibia’s banana industry through research and development. Together, the organizations aim to assess and identify various banana varieties that demonstrate superior performance across different agroecological zones of Namibia.
“This initiative also seeks to promote the commercialization of banana production by addressing a key obstacle in the country: the scarcity of high-quality, disease-free banana seedlings adaptable to Namibia’s soil and climatic conditions,” said Fabian.
Furthermore, she said the initiative also stems from the fact that bananas are the second most consumed fruit in Namibia, and the country currently relies on 100% imports to fill the domestic demand gap.
Farmer Calicious Sommone is the beneficiary of the field trial.
“The NAB and AvaGro remain steadfast in providing relevant and comprehensive crop value-chain research in the agronomic and horticulture industry,” said Fabian.
AvaGro is an agricultural solutions provider, born out of the intent to contribute to the shift from traditional farming to precision agriculture. It further grows flowers and vegetables on a commercial basis and operates a tissue culture laboratory for the production of high-quality and disease-free seedlings.
