Banana Farmers Urged to Increase Surveillance for Pests and Diseases

Banana and plantain farmers are being encouraged to increase surveillance for pests and diseases that can affect their crops.

General Manager of the Banana Board, Janet Conie, told JIS News that preempting diseases and pests with proper preparation can protect farmers’ investments.

“Banana being a plant that grows year-round makes it susceptible to diseases, and when a plant is around for a long time it becomes a host for a long time. We have a trend where we preempt and prepare, so when [a disease] comes, we implement,” she said.

Mrs. Conie pointed out that when the bacterial, soil-borne Moko disease was detected on the island in 2004, the industry was prepared.

“It was in some parts of eastern Jamaica and it was in the west. We prepared and eliminated it in the east. In the west, it was in some pockets in St. James. We still do surveillances, and from January 2021 we have not seen it. When our extension officers find it, they go and eliminate it,” she said.

Mrs. Conie also noted that when it comes to pests, protecting the fruit can be done through the use of blue sleeves.

“The blue sleeve that we put on bananas, that’s to prevent thrips so you can get a nice smooth banana. If you don’t put that on you get some bumpy bananas. We also have little root worms called nematodes. We monitor that and advise farmers on treatment,” she said.

Farmers can also get advice from the Banana Board on how to manage Bora Weevils, which affect the corm or under part of the plant.

In addition to providing advice, the Board also facilitates the application of treatments for diseases as necessary.

“For Black Sigatoka, we in Jamaica put on no more than 22 applications of treatment. That sounds like a lot, but our friends in Central America put on 50 and more. That’s because we have not yet found anything that works well to give us the level of production that we need,” Mrs. Conie said.

“Even if you go organic, your production drops. We use an integrated pest management system to treat that, to ensure that we put out the least number of applications… . So, we’re in the business of preparing, implementing and continued research fine-tuning,” she said.

Banana and plantain farmers can contact the Banana Board at 876-922-5490 for more information.