Importing Banana Plants in Tanzania?

Banana, one of the most produced and consumed fruit worldwide, is mainly grown by smallholder farmers and usually consumed locally/regionally. While hardly 15% of production is exported, Africa contributes to about one third of the global banana production.

However, the bacterial disease of BXW, caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum, threatens the countries known fondly as ‘The Great Lakes region of Africa’ (GLA), including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), some of the largest banana-producing and consuming areas of the continent.

It is particularly of concern in Tanzania where strict actions have been taken to control the spread of BXW. Also known as Xanthomonas wilt or banana bacterial wilt, this disease eats the plant from inside out, beginning with leaves turning yellow and dying while fruit ripens prematurely and rots away.

At AKF Plant Sciences, we know how important good quality banana planting material can be a game changer for your banana farming operations. As a part of our rigorous QC, we routinely test for various pathogens including Xanthomonas campestris. This means, customers who import banana tissue culture plants from us receive complete documentation that meets Tanzania’s import permit requirements (as well as countries from the GLA region).

If you are opting to use tissue culture banana plants in your farm, importing AKF Plant Sciences’ banana ex agar tissue culture plants is very easy. Ex Agar means plantlets that have developed root systems and are ready to leave the tissue culture lab. These plants will need to be hardened off or acclimatized to the outside world, and grown to a size suitable for field planting.

The AKF team will provide complete training on hardening your plants as well as best practises for your banana farming success. Get in touch with our friendly team through the website for an international shipping quote as well as useful banana planting information.