Agriculture

Banana leaves grow up to nine feet in length. The tree provides a canopy in many tropical climates. A 1991 study conducted by Abiliza E. Kimambo and H. M. H. Muya of the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania determined that the banana leaves, fruit peelings and the core of the stem provide sufficient nutritional value to be a highly valuable food for dairy cows and cattle. This study, published in Livestock Research for Rural Development, is important to developing nations where the shrubs are plentiful and grain based animal feed is costly.