Introduction. Wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) is the most important disease of banana worldwide, causing severe yield losses in commercial and local consumption cultivars. Chemical control is currently the most used method to manage the Fusarium wilt of banana, although it is toxic, expensive and dangerous. Therefore, control through genetic improvement is widely encouraged. Hence, breeding was carried out to develop banana hybrids with putative resistance. Materials and methods. Hybridization of identified resistant diploids with commercial triploids and tetraploids was carried out; it resulted in development of 22 hybrids with improved agronomic characters. In a second step, screening of these hybrids for resistance to Foc race 1 was attempted using the double cup method of challenge inoculation with the pathogen in the roots of the hybrids at optimum level. Host responses of the susceptible and resistant hybrids were examined under greenhouse conditions through biochemical and isozyme analysis. Results. Six hybrids among the 22 hybrids with improved agronomic characters were selected based on their yield and they were evaluated for resistance. Three of them were resistant to Foc and the others were susceptible. The resistance mechanism involving the relation of enzymes such as peroxidase (PO), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine lyase (PAL), and biochemicals such as phenols, proline and lignin showed relatively higher activity in resistant hybrids and parents than susceptible ones. Isozyme analysis of PO and PPO carried out using selected resistant and susceptible hybrids revealed the induction of specific isoforms in the resistant hybrids upon challenge inoculation. Conclusion. Three hybrids were identified as potential hybrids with good yield and resistance to Foc race 1.