The Musa International Transit Centre - Bioversity Impact Assessment

One of Bioversity’s mandated responsibilities is the Musa International Transit Centre (ITC) which maintains and distributes banana and plantain diversity.

The ITC holds the largest Musa collection in the world, with over 1300 accessions (samples). It distributes more than 300 of these each year, as virus-free plantlets.

A new Bioversity Impact Assessment Brief summarizes a full paper previously published in 2010, which examines how well the ITC serves the banana community, and how could it be improved.

A survey of users revealed that the centre is considered vital for their research and is often the only source of improved planting material. Especially important to scientists from national research agricultural research institutions in developing countries, was that the germplasm is free. 

There were also some suggestions about how things could be improved including expanding documentation by encouraging researchers who receive material to share the results of their research.

Users also suggested improvements to the ITC. These included expanding the documentation by encouraging researchers who receive material to share the results of their research and the continuing need to expand the collection, especially the wild Musa species.