Bananas are essential to the economies of many Caribbean international locations, offering revenue for smallholder farmers and contributing considerably to export revenues. Nonetheless, the menace posed by fusarium wilt, significantly the Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) pressure, is a problem that the international locations have to confront with urgency and collaboration.
Whereas the illness has not but been reported within the Caribbean, consultants advise the international locations to undertake a multi-dimensional strategy to regulate and handle this menace by prevention, early detection, and contingency planning.
“Small Island Creating States (SIDS) within the Caribbean are significantly weak to exterior shocks and climate-related adjustments together with exacerbation and proliferation of plant pathogenic illnesses like Foc TR4,” stated Jean Baptiste Kemuel, Chief of Extension and Rural Advisory Providers at Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Bodily Planning, Pure Sources and Co-operatives.
With the assist of the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Caribbean Plant Well being Administrators Discussion board (CPHD), utilizing the farmer subject college (FFS) strategy, technical employees, extension employees, and different stakeholders had been skilled to arrange for a possible Foc TR4 incursion within the Caribbean.
Members got here from 10 Caribbean international locations: Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
“By way of this coaching, we’re equipping international locations have to conduct surveillance and monitoring, analyze dangers, and implement strict phytosanitary measures to stop the introduction of the pathogen and comprise it swiftly in case of any incursion,” defined Maged Elkahky, FAO’s plant pathologist in his keynote deal with. He added that strengthened interregional collaboration is equally essential for effectively stopping and managing Foc TR4 within the area.
Not like different plant illnesses that may be managed with pesticides or cultivation practices, TR4 is especially insidious. As soon as it invades the soil, it could persist for many years, banning banana manufacturing and devastating farmers’ livelihoods.
Why bananas matter
Bananas are an financial lifeline for a lot of communities within the Caribbean and Latin America the place over 28 % of the world’s bananas are grown. In 2022, the area’s manufacturing quantity of bananas and plantains reached over 40 million metric tons.
The newest analysis, finest practices, and revolutionary options had been shared through the weeklong coaching to fight this devastating illness.
“Bananas and plantains will not be solely vital for revenue technology but additionally for vitamin safety within the Caribbean. TR4 is already current in South America and Caribbean international locations should work onerous and collectively to extend preparedness specializing in prevention, biosecurity measures, early diagnostic and contingency. That is the primary workshop on TR4 targeted on Farmer Discipline College strategy and the individuals at the moment are higher ready and can share data within the respective international locations”, said Melvin Media, FAO’s Plant Manufacturing and Safety Officer.
