Banana (Musa Spp.) Production System, Utilization and Constraints in Major Banana Growing Regions of Ethiopia

Abstract

 The study was undertaken to assess the production system, utilization and major constraints of bananas in Ethiopia; and forward recommendations. Multistage purposive and random sampling techniques were employed to select 201 households from eight districts in Oromia, Sidama, and SNNP regions. Data were collected through the application of Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques; and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Majority of banana farmers were male, middle-aged, educated at least first level of primary education and with an average of 17 years of experience in banana production. They owned a small piece of land (1.06 ha), of which 0.67 ha was allocated for bananas. Even though all family members involve in banana production and marketing, husband shared much of the work loads. Most agronomic management practices had not been applied by majority of farmers except weeding and cultivation. Limited technical and financial supports were given to banana production. The majority of harvested banana fruits (74%) were used for income generation, and almost all farmers (98.8%) consume banana as dessert fruit. Banana leaves and pseudostems were used for various purposes. Own garden was the source of planting material for most of banana producing  farmers (56%), and others (26%) got from neighboring farmers. Bananas are also used as animal feed. Diseases, land shortage, irrigation water, and adverse weather condition, were mentioned as first priority constraints; and possible suggestions like use of improved technologies were indicated to overcome the constraints. Therefore, identifying local cultivars, creating awareness and promoting both cooking and dessert types would be important to increase the significance of bananas.