FHIA-17:

Type of material: Hybrid

ITC number:1264

Tolerance to pests and diseases:

No incidences of pests and diseases have been recorded up to now.


General acceptance and performance:

So far, it is the most popular introduced variety because of its high yield and soft fruits. Moreover, the taste is very similar to the one of matoke and it has been quickly accepted as cooking banana and secondary as a dessert type. Due to the heavy bunches, FHIA-17 stools need to be supported to prevent toppling.

The average bunch weight for the Kagera region is 50 Kg, with minimum and maximum recorded weight of 20 Kg and 118 Kg respectively (see graph - 58 bunches harvested).


Direct and indirect diffusion:

FHIA-17 has been introduced for the first time by KCDP in 1999 in the Kagera region, in first instance for evaluation. Farmers immediately preferred the variety and started demanding planting material. A total of 16,612 in-vitro plants have been received from KULeuven since then. 34,483 plants have been directly diffused till December 2001. 6,480 plants have been indirectly diffused so far on the minimum hypothesis that one plant produces 2 suckers every year. This brings the total diffusion of FHIA-17 to 40,963 plants in March 2001.