The cost of tissue culture banana plantlets can be reduced by up to 60% through effective and efficient banana tissue culture practices that will increase affordability and accessibility of materials by smallholder farmers who currently have to pay an average of US$1 per plantlet. These cost saving production practices were discussed during a workshop held in Taipei, Taiwan, in April 2009. The workshop was organised by AATF and Academia Sinica and participants were drawn from the public and private sector organisations that produce tissue culture banana in eastern Africa and included Agro-Genetic Technologies of Uganda, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute of Tanzania.

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