Plantain, a versatile fruit that can be consumed at various stages of ripeness and can serve diverse culinary uses is a delicacy in many parts of Nigeria.

It tends to be prolific, yielding significant amount of fruit per plant. At any given time, depending on factors such as variety/cultivar, soil conditions and management practices, a single plantain tree can produce several hands of fruit during its growing season.

Plantain grows rapidly and vigorously particularly in the tropics, where the tree initiates fruiting within two years of planting. It is perennial and can produce fruit multiple times throughout its lifespan. To a great extent, there is thus, no need for yearly or periodic replanting.

Although an individual pseudostem of a plantain tree fruits only once, the plant as a whole can continue to produce fruit through its offshoots. The trees can produce offshoots or suckers that can grow into new plants and eventually bear fruit themselves. This attribute contributes significantly to its productivity, because once established, the tree can with proper management, continue to produce fruit for some time.

Furthermore, it is highly adaptable to environmental conditions including varying soil types and climatic conditions. Compared to other crops, it is also relatively resilient and according to some research can even tolerate some degree of drought.

Plantain is rich in essential nutrients including vitamins A and C, dietary fiber, and potassium. It is also an economically important crop serving as a source of income for many and furnishing other purposes including as feed for livestock.

So, imagine my surprise when a recent plantain purchase in Ibadan sent my jaw straight to the floor. 

I was beyond shocked when the trader quoted 2,500 naira for- maybe- 4 fingers of plantain. I asked her in Yoruba: se ogun n sele ni? which translates roughly to ‘is this (Nigeria) a war zone?’ She gave me a truly distasteful look and I was remorseful. This experience however bothered me and ignited interest in understanding why a fruit that I always thought had great potential to mitigate food insecurity in Nigeria was that expensive.

I have since spoken to many experts including the erudite Prof. Aiyelaagbe, who graciously shared his wealth of experience on this subject matter.

Amongst other things, he told me that low yield is due to poor investments by national government in genetic improvement and agronomy of the crop. High post-harvest losses due to poor/ inappropriate transportation means, as well as high demand due in part, to increase in population also contribute to the problem.

Prof. Aiyelaagbe proposes some solutions to make plantain more accessible. Some of these include the need to promote value addition, increase investment in genetic engineering, explore approaches that promote all-year-round production, and diversify utilisation base.

Advances in crossbreeding and genetics such as introgressing host plant resistance to various pathogens and pests, has led to the development of high-yielding cultivars with improved resistance to diseases and pests in other parts of the world.

In spite of extensive research so far, some questions persist for me, and I ask that you, dear reader oblige me. If we love plantain that much, why are we still cultivating and managing this crop using archaic techniques and approaches?

Who should fund the research into the development of resistant cultivars and in general, optimisation of approaches that can boost plantain productivity? Do we have the expertise to explore and optimise these approaches?

Can advancements in breeding techniques optimised elsewhere be transferred to the Nigerian plantain farming situation? What can we do to make plantain cultivation more productive?

Please write to me using the headline ‘dodo’ with suggestions and comments.

Thank you for reading and all the best-