US, African researchers launch banana hydroponic project to boost clean seed supply across continent 

NIGERIA – Clemson University and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture have launched a Gates Foundation-funded project called “Banana Vegetative Starts,” which develops hydroponic nursery systems to improve banana propagation and address the lack of scalable multiplication systems for clean planting material in Africa. 

The main goals of the Banana Vegetative Starts project include developing nursery-based hydroponics systems that bridge the critical delivery gap between tissue culture and large-scale farming.  

Additionally, the project also aims to provide seed enterprises with affordable, clean planting materials that can be distributed more efficiently than traditional methods, while creating scalable seed systems to ensure food security across Africa. 

According to IITA Principal Investigator Delphine Amah, current banana seed systems lack scalable, affordable methods for rapidly multiplying clean planting material from tissue culture. The three-year project specifically targets this gap, which has long constrained banana productivity across the continent. 

Professor Jeffrey Adelberg of Clemson University presented on integrating tissue culture and hydroponics into crop production systems, using turmeric as an example of successful micropropagation and integration into greenhouse nurseries.  

“Banana has a different growth habit from cassava or yam, but we are delighted to see successful micropropagation and greenhouse integrations IITA collaborators have made with those vegetative seed crop systems,” Adelberg said. 

Farmers will receive disease-free banana seedlings that establish more quickly and yield higher yields, thereby improving their incomes and food security. The partnership also investigates broader agricultural challenges, including aflatoxin management, digital breeding technologies, and data synchronization for various vegetative crops. 

The collaboration between US and African researchers highlights the importance of international knowledge exchange. African problems often require solutions adapted from other contexts, as Adelberg’s work on turmeric micropropagation demonstrates.  

The Banana Vegetative Starts project is still in its early stages, with a three-year timeline. By 2028, results should indicate whether hydroponic nurseries are cost-effective and scalable. 

The project’s focus on affordability is particularly important, as many agricultural innovations fail not because they don’t work technically, but because they are too expensive for smallholders or seed enterprises. 

Ultimately, the success of their collaboration will be measured not by journal publications but by hectares planted with clean banana seedlings and by increases in farmers’ incomes.  

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