Banana Pack – 250ml

Banana production in the Great Lakes Region is central to many livelihoods. It is the staple food and contributes greatly to national economies. It is consumed for its high nutritive and therapeutic values being a rich source of vitamins, and minerals, and more than half of the daily calorie intake.

However, with numerous pests and diseases that are affecting banana production, Juanco SPS Limited has come up with a new innovation called the Banana pack. The pack has three components;

1. Fosphite a fungicide to control Fusarium wilt
2. Marshal EC, an insecticide to control nematodes, banana weevil, termites grubs roots aphids, and other soil pests
3. Humax, a soil fertility additive that has 4 times the content of humic acid 12% as compared to normal manure which releases 3% of Humic acid after 6 months.

According to Juanco SPS limited, Fusarium wilt popularly known as Panama disease is a lethal fungal disease. It is caused by the soilborne fungus Fusarium oxysporum spp cubense. “The fungus enters the plant through the damaged roots and colonizes the vesicular bundles thereby blocking the flow of water and nutrients. The disease progression results in the yellowing of the leaves, the collapse of leaves at the petiole, the splitting of the pseudo stem base and eventually plant death.

Another disease that is mistaken with Fusarium is an airborne fungal disease called Sigatoka that affects the leaves which appear as brown-yellowish spot lesions or streaks and at the advanced stage, the leaves appear burned it normally comes after the rain or when there is high humidity. It is advised that when these symptoms appear pruning of the affected leaves and spray the remaining leaves and other
unaffected plants with a fungicide FOSPHITE every 2 weeks when it is raining helps to heal and prevent further infection.

The application of Banana Pack synergistically has controlled the problem of growing bananas in infested soils and demonstrations
done in Kirinyaga, Meru and Kisii have proven successful with good yield results and showing signs of the crop remaining in the field for
not less than 10 years as opposed to the current economic period of 3-5 years.

Banana production has a huge potential in Kenya if challenges facing the crop are addressed. The main gaps and constraints in banana production are poor agronomic practices pest and disease management, soil fertility management, and post-harvest management.

Proper management within the banana production value chain increases the yields from 4-10MT /ha to35-45MT/ha.

According to Mr. Mwendia, “The production of Banana back in 1996 was 43000 hectares. In 2006, it shot to 86000 hectares while this year it is at 115000 ha. This has been attributed to the continuous use of tissue culture bananas, a profitable venture of banana productions, and the realization of the multiple uses of bananas.” Apart from being a staple food, it has numerous uses.

• Its leaves are used in packaging a host of farm produce such as Khat (Miraa).
• In addition, the product is used in making Banana juice, wine, and jam.
• The preparation of livestock feed.
• Its high content of potassium makes it high in therapeutic value, particularly to those suffering from stress and diabetics thus “A banana a day will keep a doctor away.”

JUANCO SPS and other banana stakeholders are looking into ways of saving the crop from a host of pests and diseases. For instance, KALRO has initiated a process of studying Meru and Kisii banana growing regions and challenges faced by farmers in these areas in order to train them on how best to handle bananas to fight pests and diseases and maximize yield. The training focuses on agronomy, crop protection,
post-harvest handling, value addition, group dynamics, record keeping, and marketing.

Other constraints hindering the better production of bananas in Kenya include deprived agronomical practices, pitiable soil fertility, poor crop husbandry, lack of clean planting materials, high post-harvest losses, and inadequate value addition. Value addition on proper agronomic practices and pest and disease control using BANANAPACK will establish a banana seedling successfully which will produce flowers within 7 months and fruit within 8-9months. To sum up, agronomists are recommending that the best way to
tackle banana pests and diseases by treating all the possible banana diseases when planting in order to avert future attacks.