DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A tissue culture facility is expected to be established in Panabo City, Davao del Norte to help improve the banana industry in the south.
According to the city agriculture office, the banana tissues of the Lakatan and Cavendish varieties would be commercially available in the said facility in the last quarter of this year after having started its operation last month.
The Lakatan and Cavendish banana tissues are made ready for planting within five to seven months depending on the variety of the banana.
Located near the city nursery at the Agricultural Technology Institute compound, the construction of the facility costs around P2 million with funding coming from the Department of Agriculture Region XI and the city government of Panabo.
The tissue culture facility was reportedly designed to answer the needs of banana farmers who are looking for plantlets that are resistant to diseases.
Panabo residents would have priority to avail of the planting materials.
The facility would accept reservations for purchase of planting materials starting in the third quarter this year.
Aside from Cavendish and Lakatan, the facility would also release next year planting materials for the Cardaba variety.
To complement the tissue culture facility, DA-XI intends to also construct a “net house†besides the facility to house the tissue-culture plantlets.