Musa collection

The collection of Banana is hosted by CIRAD in Guadeloupe. It is one of the richest collections in the world, both by the diversity it covers so that with the associated information. Wild and traditional varieties are derived from surveys carried long in the original center of Banana, the Southeast Asia. The varieties grown cover the vast majority of types found in Economic Interest culture throughout the world, be it supplying local market or for export crops. The collection is now recognized as a reference collection by Bioversity. Today the power of the collection in new accessions is realized in connection with the International Transit Center, in vitro reference collection maintained by the International Transit Centre in the premises of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. The CIRAD collection includes 365 accessions, including 80 wild varieties and 130 traditional varieties, mainly diploid acuminata.