Dominica exploring banana varieties to defeat leaf-spot disease

The Ministry of Agriculture in Dominica is working with scientist to evaluate banana varieties tolerant to black sigatoka disease.

Working with the Caribbean Agricultural Research Institute (CARDI), the move is part of the ministry’s integrated disease management programme to help manage the disease, which was confirmed on the island in 2012.

As part of the programme, tolerant varieties of bananas and plantains are being monitored on four sites in La Plaine, Woodford Hill, Syndicate and Giraudel.

Gregory Linton, a research assistant at CARDI said the Dominica government approached the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for assistance in dealing with black sigatoka disease.

From that point “an integrated disease management program was developed and a component of that programme is the evaluation of tolerant varieties which would be sort of like a genetic approach, or genetic control, so hence the reason for evaluating the varieties,” Linton added.

Dominica and the Windward Islands have grown accustomed to the Gros Michel and Cavendish banana varieties.

Linton, who said that the Gros Michel variety was destroyed by the fusarium wilt disease, noted that Cavendish is the current banana variety here – however the Cavendish variety is highly susceptible to the black sigatoka disease, he added.

‘First target: backyard farms’

This programme, which started in March 2015, will end in June of this year.

“The first target for these plants is for backyard farms or backyard gardens because we are trying to reduce the amount of farm inoculum in the environment,” said Linton.

“Sometimes people in backyards, they don’t deleaf as they are supposed to. We know that’s one of the cultural methods for controlling black sigatoka or keeping it low is to deleaf and to remove the old dead leaves.

“So seeing that these plants are tolerant and they are not affected, as such, by black sigatoka, there won’t be a need to deleaf as often.

It is hoped that with these new plants, spray men may not need to apply toxic chemicals in residential areas.