News
Hybrid banana bears giant fruit
14th April 2005
by Seniorl Anzu
A hybrid fresh eating banana variety planted at Bubia, Morobe province,
gave Donatus Gawi (pictured with red cap) a mammoth yield after 15 months.
This high yielding and disease tolerant banana, FHIA 23, was one of the five best varieties
released by the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in November 2003 for
farmer evaluation. The FHIA 23 variety was recommended and released on the basis of
high yield, resistance to Black Sigatoka leaf streak and good eating quality as fresh fruit.
Last week, Mr Gawi - an employee of NARI - and his colleagues harvested this 1.5m banana bunch with 17 hands (pictured). The banana fruit was harvested from a 4.3 m plant. Mr Gawi planted the hybrid banana at Bubia Research Station outside Lae after receiving planting material from NARI Laloki in the Central Province.
The other four released varieties, with similar characteristics, are FHIA 17, FHIA 02, SH 3436 and Pisang Ceylan.