Sennar State in Sudan provides most of the country's bananas, yielding 15,000 tons in 2014, while Sudan's banana exports amounted 20,000 tons in the same year, bringing in 6 million US dollars. Banana production is expected to increase further in Sabonaby Village, Sennar, as Director of the Sudanese Center for Exports Sterilization, Abdul Rahman Mohamed Abdul Majid, has revealed plans for a banana packing centre for export, to be opened next March with a daily capacity of 100 tons.
He said this packaging center would explore new markets, support small-scale farmers and improve the quality of the Sudanese banana exports in terms of the sorting and packaging, in line with international standards.
Abdul Majid said a special center for banana exports would facilitate the transportation of bananas to the European and Gulf markets.
Since 1994 Sudan has been exerting tremendous efforts to upgrade its banana production through research and education institutions.
The efforts included bringing in new breeds of banana which were subjected to scrutiny, examination and evaluation both in field and laboratories such as Grand Nain and Williams's species, which were passed in 2001 and 2003 respectively. These two species are characterized by high productivity and good quality and can be planted on a wide scale for exportation and have become available in the local markets alongside the main small Sudanese Cavendish grade.
Those efforts led to a growing international demand for the Sudanese banana and consequently to an increasing farmers' enthusiasm for growing the crop, as remarked on by Dr. Badr al-Dinn al-Sheikh, Director of the Department of Horticulture on the Ministry of Agriculture. The country's banana exports increased in 2015 to 28,000 tons, he said.
In addition to the country efforts, there are regional ones for promotion of the banana commodity led by the Banana Research Network in Eastern and Southern Africa (BARNESA). The Sudan has been unanimously elected as president for the 2016-2018 session of the Network which includes 12 countries and six active scientific institutions.
For its part, the Department of Horticulture said the Sudanese banana is a favorite in a number of Arab countries, prompting the opening of new markets for the crop.
The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Irrigation in Sennar State, Dr. Baha'a al-Dinn Ahmed al-Hajj, speaking at a recent press conference, said his Ministry has focused on introduction of modern production technologies.
Experts say that, for expansion in banana production, it is necessary to improve infrastructures and logistics of the roads, earmark medium-term funding for farmers by the government banks, establishment of new banana farms of high productivity for export, expansion in growing the approved grades on expanded clay lands.
The experts also recommend the use of harvesting and transportation means which guarantee that the produce that is presented in the markets is of a good quality besides encouraging the producers and exporters by facilitating the procedures and exemption of government duties on production and production inputs.
