Honduras Foundation for Agricultural Research
Encyclopedia
Honduras Foundation for Agricultural Research (Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola or FHIA), (sometimes referred to as Honduras Foundation of Agricultural Research or Honduran Agricultural Research Foundation), is a not-for-profit research facility in San Pedro Sula
, Cortés
, Honduras
which seeks to develop new disease-resistant breeds
of banana
and plantain
, as well as carrying on research on cacao and other plant species.
Researchers at FHIA developed the FHIA-01 Goldfinger banana
, which is resistant to a plant disease which threatens the widely-cultivated Cavendish banana
. The FHIA-03 Sweetheart banana is already cultivated in Cuba.
It continues the banana research program which the United Fruit Company
originally established in 1958.
FHIA is also a participant in the Integrated Watershed Resources Management Program in Honduras financed by USAID.
San Pedro Sula
San Pedro Sula is a city in Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country, in the Valle de Sula , about 60 km south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean. With an estimated population of 638,259 people in the main municipality, and 802,598 in its metro area , it is the second...
, Cortés
Cortés (department)
Cortés is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. The department covers a total surface area of 3,954 km² and, in 2005, had an estimated population of 1,365,497 people, making it the most populous department in Honduras...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
which seeks to develop new disease-resistant breeds
Plant breeding
Plant breeding is the art and science of changing the genetics of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. Plant breeding can be accomplished through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to more complex molecular...
of banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
and plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
, as well as carrying on research on cacao and other plant species.
Researchers at FHIA developed the FHIA-01 Goldfinger banana
Goldfinger banana
The Goldfinger banana is a banana cultivar developed in Honduras. The cultivar, developed at the Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research by a team of scientists led by Phillip Rowe and Franklin Rosales, has been bred to be pest-resistant and crop-yielding.- Taxonomy :The FHIA-01...
, which is resistant to a plant disease which threatens the widely-cultivated Cavendish banana
Cavendish banana
The Dwarf Cavendish banana is a banana cultivar originally from Vietnam and China. It became the primary replacement for the Gros Michel banana in the 1950s after crops of the latter were devastated by the Panama disease. The name 'Dwarf Cavendish' is in reference to the height of the pseudostem,...
. The FHIA-03 Sweetheart banana is already cultivated in Cuba.
It continues the banana research program which the United Fruit Company
United Fruit Company
It had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the...
originally established in 1958.
FHIA is also a participant in the Integrated Watershed Resources Management Program in Honduras financed by USAID.