DR Congo partners trained on post-flask management of tissue culture banana

Participants during the field visit.

IITA and AGROBIOTEC Lab in Bujumbura, Burundi, organized a hands-on training for field technicians in DR Congo on post-flask management of tissue culture banana on 22-26 June.

The training was organized in the framework of the partnership project with Food for the Hungry International (FH) DR Congo under the USAID/DFAP project. Participants came from FH, Institut National d’Etude et Recherche Agronomique (INERA), Université Catholique de Bukavu (UCB), and IITA Kalambo.

The purpose of the training was to strengthen partners’ capacity to produce and introduce healthy planting material to rehabilitate bacterial wilt (BXW)-infected fields in Eastern DR Congo. BXW has devastated banana fields in Eastern DRC, rendering producers redundant with limited income sources.

The training was led by Emmanuel Njukwe of IITA Burundi and facilitated by Rishirumuhirwa Théodomir of AGROBIOTEC Lab in Burundi and Niyongere Célestin of ISABU. Training modules included banana breeding for new and improved varieties, preparation of ex-plant, aseptic culture, rooting and weaning for field establishment.