'NARITA 7'

'NARITA 7' is a high-yielding and disease-resistant hybrid that is related, through its female grandparent, to a group of cooking and beer bananas called East African highland bananas (EAHB). ‘NARITA 7’ is named after NARO and IITA, the institutes that jointly developed the NARITA hybrids1 . The improved hybrid was originally called 'M9' (M stands for Matooke, a local name for EAHB), and in 2010 was released in Uganda as 'KABANA 6H'. The name KABANA is given to material released by the NARO banana programme (KA stands for Kawanda, BA for banana and NA for NARO). 'Kabana 6H' is also the name under which it was added to the national cultivar list2 .

Farmers participating in an on-farm participatory trial conducted in Central Uganda before the cultivar was released had named it 'Kiwangaazi'. In the local Luganda language, Kiwangaazi means "long lasting". The name refers to the cultivar not needing as frequent replanting as the other local cultivars because it is generally better at withstanding high pest and disease pressure2 .

Two crosses were performed to obtain ‘NARITA 7’. The triploid EAHB cultivar ‘Nakawere’ was crossed with a wild source of disease resistance to produce a tetraploid. This tetraploid was then crossed with an improved diploid to produce the triploid hybrid ‘NARITA 7’ (see Breeding strategy below).

‘NARITA 7’ has been tested on station in Uganda3 and is being evaluated in a broader range of end-users environments (including farmers’ fields), to assess its potential for adoption by farmers and consumers4 . Its primary use is as a cooking type.

Breeding strategy

Breeding scheme for 'NARITA 7'

‘NARITA 7’ is a secondary triploid obtained by crossing a disease-resistant tetraploid (1201K-1) with an improved diploid developed by FHIA (SH3217)5 .

The tetraploid female parent 1201K-1 was obtained by crossing the triploid EAHB cultivar ‘Nakawere’ and Calcutta 4, a genebank accession of the diploid wild species Musa acuminata ssp. burmannica, which provided a copy of the so-called A genome. Calcutta 4 provided the resistance to black leaf streak.

The  diploid male parent SH3217 was the product of a cross between two improved diploids: SH2095 and SH2766. The parents of SH2095 were the products of a cross between 'Sinwobogi' (AA) and 'Tjau Lagada' (AA)  and of a cross between Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis and 'Guyod' (AA). The parents of the improved diploid SH2766 were 'Tjau Lagada' (AA) and the product of a cross between Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis and 'Guyod' (AA).

Morphological characteristics

Contrary to its EAHB parent, whose upper leaf surface is dull, Kiwangaazi’s is shiny. Its fuit are also cucumber shaped, contrary to the straight fruits of Nakawere. Its pulp colour is dark yellow and soft, to Nakawere's yellow and firm pulp2 .

Agronomic performance

The following agronomic data were collected during a preliminary yield trial carried out by IITA and NARO at Namulonge in Central Uganda2 :

Reaction to diseases and pests

The scores for number of functional leaves and youngest leaf spotted at flowering and harvest indicate good resistance to black leaf streak.

References

See also on this website

External links