BANANA: POPULARITY, PRODUCTION, HARVESTING RIPENING, USES, AND PROCESSING IN KENYA.

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How many times have you chosen to buy a banana during lunch hours that costs between 5 to 10 shillings instead of buying fries?

You are not alone-workers in most cities and towns in Kenya buy bananas at lunchtime to save on cost of buying fast foods or to avoid fast food for health reasons.

This peculiar habit of Kenyans has propelled banana to be the most popular fruit in the country and opened avenues for farmers to profit big.

A research conducted in 2008 indicated that 60 percent of stalls in fresh market centers, villages and towns selling fresh produce stock bananas.

We can conclude that farmers who venture into banana farming are likely to earn more compared to other fruit farming since banana production is year round.

KENYA’S PRODUCTIVITY OF BANANAS

It is estimated that the country produces over 1 million tones of the crop valued at 7 billion shillings.

Unfortunately, over 40% of production the countries production is lost due to poor harvesting and handling techniques, inadequate market banana market and due to fungal diseases like panama and pests like banana weevil.

These diseases and pests make the harvested crop to be of poor quality thus diminishing the returns to farmers.

Because of the aforesaid reasons, we country is losing its local market to imports from Uganda, a country that produces 10 million tones valued at 1.7 billion dollars of fruit making it the second largest producer of bananas in the world after India.

The average yield per hectare of banana in Kenya has been established to be 15 tones.

AREAS IN KENYA WHERE BANANAS ARE GROWN

The Abagusii community found in Kisii County are famed producers of the crop. It’s often joked that they can eat ugali with [a meal made from maize flour] ripe bananas instead of vegetables.

Bananas are also produced in Meru, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, and Maragua, Mbooni under irrigation.

The average weight of one bunch of bananas is 15-20 kg which fetches 200-300 shillings at the farm gate.

TYPE BANANAS PREFERRED BY CUSTOMERS

There are many banana varieties, that can classified in two distinct groups according to the way they are consumed: those suitable for cooking and those suitable for ripening.

Ripened bananas are more popular of the two; a fact attributed to the hectic Kenyan life, their affordability and the fact that a ripe banana is ready to eat.

Customers look for uniformly ripened bananas that are yellow in color and do not have black patches caused by rough handling during harvesting.

In most fast food outlets the cost of one plate of chips is between 60 to 200 shillings on the other hand, a single banana will cost between 5 to 10 shillings and 3 of them are sufficient to cool hunger pangs.

Ripened bananas are preferred because they give the body immediate energy supply because they have sufficient amounts of sugar and glucose.

 

OTHER USES OF BANANA PLANT

Besides yielding of banana fruit, pseudo stems of the banana plant are used in the production of fiber and as a reliable source of forage feed for many livestock farmers.

Banana beer is brewed in Rwanda is called Rugwanda it is served warm and tastes as if it’s sprinkled with charcoal. Guys there actually have it for lunch.

 

PESTS AFFECTING BANANA PLANT

Nematodes are the most damaging pest causing over 70% loss of the crop. Control is by nematicides e.g. carbofuran but it is becoming infective at the recommended lethal doses.

Treating the soil with farmyard manure, poultry manure and extracts from tagetes minuta have the same capabilities of controlling nematodes like carbofuran. They are thus preferred since Nematicides damage the environment

 

WHERE TO FIND SUITABLE DISEASE FREE SUCKERS

Tissue culture banana seedlings are available at Jomo Kenyatta University of agriculture and technology in Juja and at the National Horticulture Research Centre, Thika or the nearest Kari research centre.

 WHY GROWING BANANAS IN A GREENHOUSE IS NOT PRACTICAL

The cost of constructing One hectare of greenhouse is estimated to be $100,000-$200,000 meaning only high value crops are suitable for greenhouse production.

When we consider the production and value of one hectare of bananas; one hectare yields 14-20 tones of bananas valued at $ 3,220 to $ 4600 after waiting for 2-3 years!

Secondly the surface area occupied by one stool of banana plant that consists of the mother [the crop bearing bunch] the daughter and the child is about 4M².

This limits the number of plants that can be grown bin the greenhouse thus lowers the number of bunches that can be harvested.

This is disadvantageous for those who sell to the market in form of bunches.

Finally a banana plant can grow to a height of 8 meters. This means if several of them are grown in a greenhouse they can outgrow the greenhouse and probably destroy it.

 

RIPENING BANANAS

There are three ways to do so

1. Natural ripening

Unripe, green, fully mature bananas are placed together with avocadoes or ripening passion fruit in an air tight paper bag.

During ripening there is the production and accumulation of ethylene gas that hastens ripening.

2. Ethylene generators

Artificial ethylene generators produce ethylene that induces the ripening of bananas for industrial scale bananas.

Disadvantage of artificially ripened bananas is they lack the characteristic flavor and aroma of naturally ripened fruit.

3. Dipping bananas in water containing carbide

It has been said that when bananas are dipped in water containing carbide their ripening is enhanced.

However it said that industrial grade carbide may contain traces of arsenic and phosphorus hence the use of calcium carbide in most countries is illegal.

BANANA PROCESSING COMPANIES IN KENYA

Stawi foods and Fruits Company enters into contracts with organized farmer groups where they buy bananas from them. They process them into banana flour and package them ready for the market.

Processed banana is packaged as Stawi Natural Banana Flour and is commonly used to make baby food pasta, food fortification and pizza base.

Banana plant can yield up to 14 tones per hectare.

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS OF BANANAS

They contain potassium, an electrolyte that helps to maintain the body’s fluid balance, keep muscles from cramping and prevent high blood pressure.

One banana is enough to replace what is lost during one or two hours of hard exercise.

One banana contains approximately 9 grams of fiber which is a third of our daily requirement.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE INFLORESCENCE INTO A BANANA BUNCH

A banana plant takes one to two years to attain maturity.

The maturity stage is characterized by the production of an inflorescence that later develops into a banana bunch containing several fingers that grow into bananas.

The size of the inflorescence determines the final size of a banana bunch and bananas.

For banana plants to produce bigger inflorescences the soil should be supplied with sufficient manure, be well draining and

The plant should be should be free of pests like banana weevil, thrips and diseases.

For instance the above plant will produce a small banana bunch and small bananas when fully mature because the inflorescence is small that is 40 cm long.

For the plant to develop a big bunch the inflorescence should be about 60-70 cm long. Once the inflorescence is produced, bananas will be formed in 3 to 5 months.