AGRIBUSINESS SUPPORT FUND

SUCCESS
Building Innovation Capabilities in Pakistani Agriculture
ASF provides strategic
support to the banana
industry

Challenge:

The tissue culture lab for banana plant

will not only enable farmers to get a
consistent supply of locally produced,
virus free, good quality banana plants at
reasonable prices but will also save
foreign exchange. I appreciate ASFs
sincere efforts and its vital role in the
development of agribusiness sector.
Niaz Nizamani
Mauz Biotech, Tando Allahyar

Banana is an important fruit

crop of Pakistan cultivated over
an area of 33,000 hectares
with annual production of
over
150,000
tons.
The
province of Sindh contributes
70-80% in banana acreage
with an average yield of 325
maunds per acre. However,
presently only one quality of
banana, Cawendish (Basari)
is grown over more than 98%
of the area. The ideal climate
and soil conditions of the
province have an un-explored
potential of growing other
varieties of banana. Moreover,
the public sector research
institutes were not able to
meet the demands of the
local farming community and
as a result, despite its
potential, the banana sector is
virtually absent from the
export market. Further, larger
farmers in Sindh started
importing banana plants from
India and South Africa to
increase the yield and quality
of the fruit which puts an
extra burden on the countrys
foreign reserves each year.

ASF Intervention:
In 2009, ASF approved a grant of Rs. 1.45 million under its
research & development component for the establishment
of plant tissue culture facility for bananas by a private
sector party. This facility is the first of its kind which was
established in the area of Tando Allahyar, Sindh.

Results:
The facility is now fully operational and providing disease free,
quality banana plants to the farming community of Sindh at
reasonably fair prices. Recently the beneficiary has successfully
introduced a new variety of Banana in Pakistan called Grand
Nain (G9) using the facility. It is expected that the overall
production of bananas will increase upto 25% owing to research
in this facility.

To overcome the dependency

on import and to empower the
poor farmers by increasing their
productivity and income, ASF
established a tissue culture lab
at Tando Allahyar.

www.asf.org.pk