In order to meet the demand for plant material and also to create rural jobs, scientists from the ICAR-Centre National de Recherche sur la Banane (NRCB) transferred a low-cost technological module allowing the mass production of suckers ( a shoot that develops from a lateral bud on the rhizome and emerges from the ground usually near the parent plant) at Bishop Heber College this week.

Speaking at the handover ceremony held Monday at the Technology Management Unit of ICAR-NRCB Institute, S. Uma, Director of NRCB, said, “Tiruchi district has about 10,000 hectares of banana crops. Classically, suckers are used to propagate traditional varieties. However, with poor sucker selection, the spread of the disease is endemic and results in yield loss of more than 20-30%. We have developed low-cost, farmer-friendly banana nursery technology to meet the demand for planting material and also provide entrepreneurial opportunities for rural youth.

S. Backiyarani and MS Saraswathi are the main scientists and co-inventors of the technology. Ms Backiyarani explained that a minimum of 10 to 25 healthy plants can be obtained from a single sprout within three to four months. “The seedling can be produced throughout the year without any seasonal barriers,” she said.

“The plants obtained using this technology are genetically homogeneous and constitute a good alternative to conventional suckers. They could complement tissue culture seedlings,” Ms Saraswathi said.

R. Karthic, project coordinator, developed the business model using this technology. “A 20 x 10 foot nursery can produce 6000 plants in three cycles per year and one plant can be sold at the rate of Rs. 10,” he said.

Paul Dhayabaran, principal of Bishop Heber College, and Anand Gideon, head of the botany department and dean of extension activities, received the technology transfer on behalf of the institution. Botany Department staff and students will receive NRCB training in mass production technology at the college’s poly-house nursery established at Murungapettai. Banana suckers will eventually be provided at a low cost to villages adopted by the deanery of extension activities.