Article

Answered Question

Question : I am interested in planting tissue culture bananas using drip irrigation technology in Embu. Kindly give me all information I may require from, piping to watering to fertilizing to chemical usage and the intervals of applying them. Thanks in advance, Kamau

From George Kamau on January 14, 2012 at 06:03 AM

18/May/2013 3:34:57 pm
Answer :

Questions Answered:

1.       Are there incident where farmers have come back because seedlings have failed? No

2.       Does the company give agronomy guidelines on how to plant and take care of the plants - can we have these as part of the story? See attached pdf file.

3.       a. When is it advisable to plant - weather wise---rainy season. Shortly after the start of the rainy season when the ground is moist-Bananas are water lovers.

b. And in what areas of the country can TC bananas do well, going by Oserian experience? See below. Where there is lots of rainfall or available irrigation water.

 

CLIENT

AREAS

TYPE BOUGHT

WHEN BOUGHT

COMMENTS
 

Fred Magu

Makutano

Grand nain

10/26/2010

 harvested some  but others delayed in producing,

 

Marion Gathoni

kabete

Grand nain

10/26/2010

Doing fine, in process of producing fruits.
 

Julius mwaniki

Embu

Grand nain

2/17/2011

Plants doing fine awaiting harvesting.
 

Mutahi

Nyeri

Grand nain

4/11/2011

Comments from the farmers, the small ones do better than the bigger ones.
 

Ombampa

kiserian

Grand nain

2/18/2011

doing fine, produced a lot of  shoots
 

Patricia Mutai

Eldoret

Grand nain

3/31/2011

good growth

 

Jeff Nduati

Murang'a

Grand nain

10/26/2010

Plants fine with a lot of shoots
 

JosphatMacharis

Ndabibi

Grand nain

6/29/2011

t.c bananas doing well than kienyenji ones especially when cold strikes the t.c respond very well

 

4.Between cooking and ripening bananas, which seedlings are more popular and why? I ask this because when I bought them, I was told there weren't cooking banana seedlings available and would have to make an order and wait for a few weeks. Many people prefer ripening that is why we always have to have a stock. Ripening Bananas do not need extra cost of cooking they are well wrapped naturally and ready to eat and easy to sell at selling points all over the country.

5.What other crops is Oserian'sTC lab working on? Strawberry, citrus, passion and other fruit trees of interest on trial basis to be released soon.

Section B.

1. What was our goal when we set out to start selling the bananas?Our main goal was to enter the industry and alleviate Quality Banana planting plants shortage.

2. Have we achieved that goal so far? To some extent we have in that we have been able to alleviate banana plant shortage and be part of the contributors to vision 2030 food sustainability for the country.

4. Are there any challenges we have faced so far. The main challenge is competition from upcoming suppliers and the fact that buyers shift to any buyer who sells cheap without regard for quality this makes it difficult to plan for lack of serious commitment.

5. What is the future for the banana seedlings in Oserian, are we looking at setting any new innovations? We gearing in having as much a correction as possible in our mother block to retain genes as well as supply when need be or use for breeding.

6. Is the TC lab hoping to commercialize other plant seedlings apart from bananas? Yes Fruit crops as well as important cash crops such as Potatoes and strawberry.

Do you have queries about Horticulture you need answered by experts in the field. Then hortinews.co.ke has a new feature for you to ask the questions you want answered. Just Register and Login then go to our Questions Area and post a question and we will answer it.
Be the first to comment on this article below.
Post Your Comment