Previous Story
Free workshop on growing bananas
|
Posted on Nov 24 2011
If you like the sweet taste of Guam-grown bananas, the University of Guam Cooperative Extension Service is offering a free workshop on growing bananas on Saturday, Dec. 3, at UOG.
Participants will learn the importance of starting their banana patches or plantations with healthy plants, how tissue culture is done, the best ways to fertilize, how to recognize when their plants may be infected with the dreaded banana bunchy top virus, and what to do if they are.
The Guam Department of Agriculture and the University of Guam, with funding from U.S. Department of Agriculture, have been propagating disease-free planting stock through tissue culture and many of the most popular and delicious varieties will be available for sale at the workshop.
The advantages of planting tissue-cultured plants are many:
-Since they are disease and insect free they will grow faster and more vigorously than suckers taken from the field.
-All tissue-cultured plants are guaranteed to be of the same variety.
-They can be ordered in advance and available in large numbers at one time.
“I highly encourage all banana lovers and farmers to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to buy these disease-free banana plants at the workshop or any weekday at the Department of Agriculture,” said plant pathologist George Wall. “There is nothing like tree-ripened locally-grown fruit in terms of nutrition, taste and value.”
The banana workshop will be held on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, UOG Campus, Ag & Life Sciences Bldg Room 127, from 8:30am to 11:45am. Banana varieties available include William, Guahu, Macao, Manila, Lacatan, Yangambi, and Dwarf French Plantain (cooking). Prices ($3-$10) dependent on size of plants. (UOG)
