Institute develops resilient banana typeBy Yang Yuan-ting and Esme Yeh / Staff reportersThe Taiwan Banana Research Institute has developed a Panama disease-resistant banana variety, Tai-Chiao No. Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Banana Research InstituteThe institute continued to utilize the findings to cultivate the new disease-resistance banana variety, TC9, with the goal of bringing it to the global market. Most Panama disease-resistant Taiwanese banana varieties were found to have certain large chromosomal segments deleted, he said. Williams is the primary global commercial banana variety, largely grown in the Philippines and Latin America, but almost unable to resist Panama disease, Chiu said. TC9 is a cultivar developed based on Williams and has at least 70 percent resistance to Panama disease, she said.

Source: Taipei Times January 01, 2026 17:14 UTC