Bananas are the main product of 75 per cent of farmers in Uganda, East Africa. Half the country's land is now farmed, and bananas grow on 78 per cent of it. Banana farming is easy: plant a sucker in fertile soil, give a little care, and the harvest is assured. For generations, Ugandan farmers have been skilled at producing this staple.

Carrying bananas to distant markets on bicycles is a familiar sight. One farmer said he cycles 16 kilometres to market with his bananas.

Worldwide, Panama disease has threatened banana production; thousands of hectares were wiped out in China, which has recently recovered. Alongside the government, development organisations are supporting research and help for this cash crop.

BRAC has come forward to produce tissue-culture seedlings. Khandaker Saleh Ahmed, manager of BRAC's tissue culture lab in Uganda, said Panama disease can destroy 100 per cent of a crop, and some farmers have given up bananas. Uganda's national agricultural research organisation concluded that tissue culture can protect crops from the disease.

There are countless banana markets across the country, and many varieties for four uses: boiled as a staple, for beer brewing, for roasting and as dessert. Bananas were once gathered from nature for survival; with cultivation and trade, they became vital to farmers.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.