‘Saba’, which had its origin in the Philippines, is well suited for marginal lands The National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) will release a new ‘monthan’ variety of banana. The cooking banana ‘saba’, which had its origin in the Philippines, is well suited for marginal lands. It is a high-yielding variety tolerant to diseases, particularly leaf spot disease and wilt, said M.M.Mustaffa, Director, NRCB. Addressing the newly-recruited Agriculture Research Science (ARS) scientists, banana growers, and other officials at a seminar-cum-interaction at the NRCB premises at Podhavur near here recently, Dr.Mustaffa said that the new variety, with duration of 12 to 13 months, required minimum rain and could survive prolonged dry spell with intermittent irrigation. Each plant could a yield a bunch weighing between 26 and 38 kg with 13 to 16 hands. Each hand would have 12 to 20 fingers. He appealed to banana growers to apply bio-fertilizers for improving their productivity and for ensuring plant protection. He said that bio-fertilizers would strengthen soil fertility and enhance banana production. This was the 100th batch of ARS scientists who, as part of 21-day-long training, explored the opportunities and challenges faced by the farmers of central region. The training concluded with a rural seminar where they discussed their experience with scientists and agriculture officers. Appeal to farmers R.Selvarajan, principal scientist, called upon farmers to adopt nutrient management strategies to avoid pests and diseases in banana. M.Asokan, programme coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sirugamani, stressed the importance of applying pesticide judiciously and encouraged farmers to go in for ADT-49, a disease-resistant paddy variety compared to the much sought-after varieties such as BPT-5204. Ravi, Subject Matter Specialist, KVK, explained the techniques to minimise pest attack using bio inputs. Paulraj, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Andhanallur, elaborated on State government's schemes Venkat Kumar, principal scientist, National Academy of Agriculture Research Management, motivated farmers to set up farmer producer companies. Marimuthu, a progressive farmer from Thuraiyur, explained the importance of farmer producer companies for achieving success.