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Banana production

Book · November 2014

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2399.6486

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Noella Josiane Umuhoza Karemera

National University of Rwanda/College of Agriculture,Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
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 ACKONOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I deeply thankful the Almighty God for every single thing He did in my life and for his
presence during the all-time I stay abroad far from my family.

The realization of this work would not have been possible unless the contribution of many
people who kindly offered their kind help in one or the other way and now I express them my
deep gratitude

I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to Dr Piet Van Asten and
Perez Mucunguzi from whom I learnt many things on banana through International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) trainings.

I am also thankful to farmers with whom I learnt many things. All information in that book is
from experience I got while working with IITA and different farmers in Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda.

Special thanks to farmers in Kirehe / East province of Rwanda, mostly those ones in UBUMWE
cooperative in Rukira Sector/East Province of Rwanda

I owe my cordial gratitude to the editors and publishers of that book for their advices and
suggestions to improve that work

Much thanks to my parents Karemera Gahirwa Protais and Mukaderevu Beatrice, sisters
Isimbi Sancta , Dina Albertine Prudence and Nadine Nyinawumuntu, brothers, Dr Gustave
Mulindwa Karemera and Placide Rwabiguma Gahirwa and my cute son Prince Alix Ganza
Nesseim whose constant support, affection and inspiration help and inspire me in whatever I do.

1
CONTENTS

CHAPTERS TITLE PAGE No.

8
I
INTRODUCTION
RWANDAN BANANA FEATURES AND
II 8
PRODUCTION CAPACITY
PROPAGATATION OF BANANA
III 9

HOW TO PLANT BANANA

IV 24

PESTS AND DISEASES OF BANANA

V 27

VI 48
CONCLUSION
VII 49

REFERENCES

2
 LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
TITLE
No. No.

Role of Magnesium (Mg), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium ( K) in Plants

1 44

3
 LIST OF PLATES
N0. AND THE TITLE PAGE NO.

1. Tissue culture plantlets 10

2. Macropropagation plantlets 10

3. Plantlets from macropropagator and planted in putting bug 10

while waiting to be planted in field

4. Banana macropropagator 11

5. Conventional suckers: 11
Farmers take plantlets from
the fields of others farmers
6. Selection of a sucker on 13
which corm will be detached
7. Destruction of apical 14
dominance of the corm
8. Sucker selection 14

9. Corm pairing 15

10. Hot water treatment of corms during 30 seconds and after 16

removing all roots and weevils tunnels.

11. “V” spot 16

12. Apical meristem that has to be destroyed to allow lateral buds 17

to sprout

13. Macropropagator construction 18

4
14. Macropropagator ready to be used 18

15. Corm that starts to sprouts 20

16. Many sprouts (up to 25) are coming from one corm 20

17. Plantlets in sawdust are growing and can be cut to be 21

transplanted in planting bag

18. Plantlets ready to be 21

transferred in planting bag
19. While transferring plantlets it is important to take each with 21
some roots to help it to be planted in planting bag

20. Transferring plantlets from 22

macropropagator to planting
bag
21. Plantlets in shade during 3 weeks before being planted in field 22

22. Well managed banana orchard 25

23. Banana weevils 28

24. Weevil traps 30

25. Banana nematodes 31

26. Suckers uprooted by nematodes 31

27. Brown colouration in corm with a foul smell 33

28. Yellow leaves and drop on the sucker 33

29. Leaves quickly wilt (scalded) 34

and are yellow

5
30. Male bud of infected sucker 35
31. Vascular discoloration and
31. yellow ooze 35
32. Vascular discoloration and yellow ooze 36

33. Banana bunch becomes 36

mature very early
34. Banana bunch becomes mature very early 37

35. Aphid that transmits 39

BBTV
36. Suckers with BBTV 40
37. Continous or dis-continous chlorotic or necrotic streaks on 41
leaves

38. When the disease severity is high, large areas of the leaf 42
may become blackened

39. Lesions then enlarge, becoming fusiform or elliptical and 42

darken to give the characteristic black streaking of the
leaves

40. Tip of the infected fingers later gets covered with a 43

powdery mass of spores resembling grey ash end of a
cigar.

6
 45
41. Nitrogen (N) Deficiency

46
42. Phosphate (P) deficiency

46
43. Potassium (K) Deficiency

44. Draught: chlorosis of the 47

leaves that fall on the
banana trunk

7
 I.INTRODUCTION

Origin and distribution

The word "banana" is a general term embracing a number of species or hybrids in the genus
Musa of the family Musaceae). Edible bananas are originated in the Indo-Malaysian region
reaching to northern Australia. They were known only by hearsay in the Mediterranean region in
the 3rd century B.C., and they are believed to have been first carried to Europe in the 10th
century B.C. Early in the 16th century, Portuguese mariners transported the plant from the West
African coast to South America (Morton, 1987)

Genetic make up
Cultivated bananas are mainly A and B genomes

A genome, Acuminata
B genome, Balbisiana

Ploidy
• Diploids AA : Acuminata
• Triploids AAA: Gros michel and all EAHB are triploids ( cooking banana, beer banana,
Cavendish, Red banana)
• Triploids ABB: Kayinja
• Triploids AAB: Kamaramasenge, Plantains ( Mizuzu)
• Tetraploids AAAA : All FHIA

II. RWANDAN BANANA FEATURES AND PRODUCTION CAPACITY

In Rwanda banana are suitable in shores of Lake Kivu and in Eastern Savanas

Conditions for growing banana in Rwanda:

Altitude has to be inferior to 2000m, banana thrive well in clay, humid and drained soil, with a
temperature of 28o C.

8
Varieties

Dessert type varieties: Poyo, Kamaramasenge, FHIA 17, FHIA 25…

Cooking varieties: Inganji, Injagi, Nkazikamwe, Mporogoma, Icyerwa….
Organic: Yes: 20 kg of organic manure in each hole + 125 gr NPK 17.17.17 or 125 gr of
urea before planting.
After seedling, apply manure at 60 cm from banana tree base, one to times/year in rainy
season
Yield /ha: 20T

III. PROPAGATATION OF BANANA

Source of planting material

There are at least 3 different sources that most farmers are using to get suckers for
establishing their banana germoplasms.

Tissue culture plantlets: Are suckers obtained from the laboratory

Macropropagation plantlets: Here suckers are multiplied in the humidity chamber like
green house ( Macropropagator)
Conventional suckers: From the field

9
Plate 1: Tissue culture plantlets

Plate 2: Macropropagation plantlets

Plate 3: Plantlets from macropropagator and planted in putting bug while waiting to be
planted in field

10
Plate 4: Banana macropropagator

Plate 5: Conventional suckers: Farmers take plantlets from the fields of others farmers

Advantages of tissue culture

lture
Gives the cleanest possible plantlets free from all diseases and pests

11
 Produces bigger numbers in a short time, 1000 times more than when farmers are using
conventional methods to get banana plantlets.
Gives more uniform plants mostly in size.

Disadvantages of Tissue Culture method

Plantlets from tissue culture are expensive for most farmers
Requires expertise of technicians
Electricity and other machinery are necessary
Often the laboratories are so far from most farmers
Loss of plants because of lack of training in handling by technicians in laboratories at the
beginning

Macropropagation method
Macro-propagation techniques

Techniques start in field where good suckers are selected, and corms are detached
(decapitation). It is important to take suckers from a field that looks free from
diseases. It is also better to choose medium corms and not the very big or small ones.
Then after that comes the repression of apical dominance to enhance mass-
multiplication of sprouts from laterals buds

12
 For banana, before flowering sets in, the development of lateral buds is repressed by
apical dominance of the prevailing mother plant that will give a single plantlet.

For breaking the dormancy of the lateral buds to enhance their development into
many suckers it is necessary to destroy the apical meristem of the corm; that apical
dominance normally dominates the lateral buds. When is destroyed the lateral buds
will have the ability to be multiplied into many suckers.

Field techniques

Plate 6: Selection of a sucker on which corm will be detached

Detaching corm techniques

Using corms in banana multiplication is a very important technique as it gives many
sprouts in a very short time. It is a technique easy to do by farmers and plantlets
form corms will be uniform, free from diseases and pests and their establishment in
field does not present any problem of adaptation. .

Detached corm techniques are:

13
 Whole corm, Split corm, Excised buds and Meristem
Meristem-drilling.
drilling.
All macropropagation techniques are easy, not expensive and materials to construct
macropropagators are not difficult
ifficult to get by farmers.

Plate 7: Destruction of apical dominance of the corm

Sucker selection

Plate 8: Sucker selection

Sword suckers are good for macropropagation techniques. A sword sucker is a sucker
which leaves are like a sword.

A maiden sucker is also good. A maiden sucker is the daughter of the mother sucker. Its
corm has also a naught nutrient to be used by plantlets.

14
 Water suckers cannot be used for choosing corms; those corms are general planted far
from their mother and their corms are poor in nutrients and they cannot feed plantlets that
will sprout from the corm.

Sucker treatment techniques

. Pairing: It is a process of removal of roots and top corm tissue. Roots are removed to avoid all
transmission of nematodes and it allows seeing if they are tunnels made by weevils. Nematodes
and weevils are very harmful to suckers. In case you plant banana suckers with a risk of
nematodes and weevils, all banana orchard can be uprooted by them.

Plate 9: Corm pairing

. Hot water treatment: That technique is done by immersing the corms (in the container) in
boiling water for 30 seconds for killing all nematodes, weevils and their eggs that escaped while
removing roots.

15
Plate 10: Hot water treatment of corms during 30 seconds and after removing all roots and
weevils tunnels.

. Sheath removal (pairing)

Sheaths are removed one by one from the top of the corm to expose all lateral buds
covered buy sheaths to expose them and to allow them to be split into many cells by a
knife, like that each bud instead of giving one plantlets, it will give many as you split
them in many cells.

The bud is always found at the ‘V’spot where the sheath starts and ends

Plate 11: “V” spot

After all the sheaths have been removed, gently drill out the meristem to allow sprouting
of the lateral buds

16
Plate 12: Apical meristem that has to be destroyed to allow lateral buds to sprout

With knife remove the top of the V spot and drill also that bud, you can cut a cross in that
bud to split it into 4 portions.

How to construct a banana macropropagator

For the construction of banana macropropagator below material are needed:

Bricks
Cement
Small stones
Nails
Woods
Transplant plastic
Sawdust or husk of coffee

Macropropagators can have different size depends on how much corms farmers would like to
plants in it. Only for the width it is better to take 1.5 m for an easy watering as someone who is
watering should not put feet into the macropropagator, he as to stunt outside of it and with that
width it is easy to put water even in the center of the macropropagator.

17
Plate 13: Macropropagator construction

Fast of all, foundation has to be constructed, it can have 40 cm, 10 into the soil and 30 cm above
the soil. On the width, 3 woods are in place to support the transplant plastic. Two woods on side
can have 1 m above the soil and that one in middle can have 1.5 m above the soil to give a slope,
like that when it is raining water will not be stagnant on the plastic, otherwise, that water will
be heavy and it can break the plastic.

On the length side, all woods have same length and there is 1 m of space between them.

Plate 14: Macropropagator ready to be used

In macropropagator of 1.5 m of width, 6 m of length and 0,3m of depth (1.5m ×6m ×0.3m) it is
possible to plant in it 200-230 corms with 5 cm of space between two corms. Each corm can give

18
up to 15 plantlets for most of the varieties and 25 plantlets for apples banana (Kamaramasende)
in 4 months.

How to plant corms in macropropagator

The sawdust clean that will be used or other material like coffee husk will be filled in the
foundation constructed before. Before putting the wood dusk it is important to cover the soil by
small stones to avoid the soil to be compacted while watering. Then corms will be planted in that
wood dusk, 5 cm are enough between two corms. The person who are planting have to be careful
for not bringing shoes in macropropagator because they may be infested by nematodes or others
pests. After planting, put enough water to make the sawdust to be wet enough.

After, cover well the macropropagator with the transparent plastic. On the transparent plastic put
some herbs like dry banana leaves to reduce the heat inside the macropropagator.

Corms have to be watered two times per day, morning and evening time. Stay out of the
macropropagator while watering. Farmer has to make sure that after watering; corms stay
covered well by the sawdust. After covering well the macropropagator with the transparent
plastic the heat inside it will make corms to sprout.

Like one month after planting corms, the first plantlets will come out. If only one plantlet come
from a corm, cut it out, drill again the apical dominance to destroy it and the lateral buds will
start to sprout many plantlets.

After four months, in general, new plantlets will show decolorized green color; it shows that the
corms are shorted in nutrients; they are old and have to be replaced. It is better to use now a new
material (sawdust or husk of coffee) or to sterilize the old one before planting new corms.

19
Plate 15: Corm that starts to sprouts

Plate 16: Many sprouts (up to 25) are coming from one corm

Plate 17: Plantlets in sawdust are growing and can be cut to be transplanted in planting
bag

20
Plate 18: Plantlets ready to be transferred in planting bag

Plate 19: While transferring plantlets it is important to take each with some roots to help it
to be planted in planting bag

When a plantlets has two leaves now it is cut from the corm gently and it is putted in planting
bug. When farmer cut the plantlets from corm they have to make attention to bring it with some
roots.

21
Plate 20: Transferring plantlets from macropropagator to planting bag

The soil in planting bag in which plantlets will be transferred has to be clean for not transferring
any disease or pest to plantlets which are free from any diseases and pests. For that soil has to be
sterilized by farmers. They put soil in bags that will be immerged in boiling water for a long time
to allow the soil in bag to be all immerged in hot water.

Plantlets in planting bag will stay under shade during three weeks where they are watered 2
times, morning and evening. That period allow them to be acclimatized before being planted in
field.

Plate 21: Plantlets in shade during 3 weeks before being planted in field

The corm will continue to give plantlets till when farmers will observe that plantlets that are
sprouting from the corm have now decolorized leaves. It means that there are no enough
nutrients in corm to continue to nourish new plantlets. Those corms have now to be removed and
replaced by the new one.

22
At the beginning it may happen that the corm in macropropagator gives only one plantlet instead
of many. It means that the apical meristem was not well killed and still has the ability to put the
lateral buds into dormancy. Farmers have to drill gain well that apical dominance after removing
the one plantlet that come out, and after that the lateral buds will start to sprout many plantlets.

Economic benefit of 1 macropropagator

Cost of all materiel necessaries for macropropagator construction ( Rwanda Case)

-Transplant plastic: 200.000FRW

- Construction material: 300.00FRW

- Labors: 50.000 FRW

Others material
-Corms to plant: 500 × 230= 115000 FRW

- Water (for watering plantlets) = 50.000FRW

TOTAL = 715.000 FRW

Cost to sell plantlets from suckers: 1000FRW×230×15=3.450.000FRW

Here is the case farmer planted 230 corms and each corm can give 15 plantlets. One plantlets from
macropropagator in Rwanda is sold at 1000 FRW

Benefit for farmer = 3.450.000FRW-715.000 FRW= 2.735.000 FRW= 4 207.69 $

FRW = Rwandan Francs

1 FRW= 650$ (American Dollars)

Differences between Tissue Culture and Macropropagation method

Tissue culture is also called micro propagation, the name micro is because it uses a
small part of corm and a meristem tissue

23
 Macro propagation: The term macro means that a big part of the tissue will be used in
propagation. During macropropagation the big part is used because the food for the
plantlets content in the corm while for tissue culture; the food is provided through the
media used. That is also another difference between the micropropagation (Tissue
culture) and the macropropagation

IV. HOW TO PLANT BANANA

Banana suckers thrive well in the altitude inferior to 2000m, in clay, humid and drained soil,
with a temperature of 28o C.

For establishing banana orchards, start by making holes of 60cm of depth on 60cm of width.
Between two holes, space may be 3m × 3m. That recommendation depends on the land of
farmers. In some country like Uganda as they have big land, farmers give the space of 6m× 6m,
but some country like Rwanda where land is very small, 3m× 3m are enough to avoid
competition of nutrients between suckers and to allow the light in field.

How to make holes for planting banana suckers

While digging the hole of 60cm × 60cm, the soil from the first 30cm has to be kept on one side,
that soil is rich in nutrient and it has a dark color; and the soil from the second 30cm is kept in
side different from the first one, that soil is mostly red and poor in nutrients.

How to plant suckers in holes

Before planting suckers in holes, you feel the first 30cm of the hole with the soil that has been
taken from the hole in second time, means the poor soil with a red color. That one now will be
used in first time to fill the hole. And as it is poor, mix it with the manure to enrich it. If farmers
don’t have a balance, they can use one big bawl of manure to measure 125kg of it, they mix that
manure with the soil in the hole, after that they add the rich soil, that one that has been taken
from the hole in the first time. It is a rich soil. After farmer makes a place to put the sucker, if he
uses a sucker without leave, it is good to put the head of that sucker in opposite side from where
the rain is coming from. Like that the rain cannot break the small plantlet when it will start to
grow. In general farmers they know well the direction of rain.

On a field of 1 ha, it is possible to dig on it 1111 holes, means 1111 suckers of banana.

24
Establishing of a good banana orchard
To establish a good banana orchard some good practices have to be followed:

Desuckering: In banana orchard, suckers have to be on the number of 3 only from the same
hole; the mother, the daughter and the granddaughter. Other suckers that are growing around
have to be removed. There is a good technic that farmers use to know which sucker has to be
removed. They place their foot between the mother sucker and the small sucker that starts to
grow around, if the sucker is so far from the mother at a distance bigger than that one in which
can be placed the foot, it has to be removed, it is so far from the mother to be feed buy the
mother sucker and it will not be a good sucker that can give a good bunch of banana.

Propping up: Is the technic of putting a support on banana sucker when it has a heavy bunch
of banana to avoid it to be up rooted mostly by the weight of the bunch or also buy the wind.

Plate 22: Well managed banana orchard

25
Mulching: Banana likes a humid soil. To keep that humidity is good to put mulch. It is very
important to put a distance of 60cm between the sucker and the mulch for avoiding weevils to
put their eggs in the mulch near the sucker. It is a very good way also to prevent weevils and
weeds.

Cutting of male bud: Is very good to cut the male bud to avoid the propagation of diseases like
Banana Bunch Viruse (BXW) by insects like bees.

Not planting other crops near suckers: In some countries where land is rare like in Rwanda,
farmers do intercropping of banana with others crops like beans, soya and some countries like
Uganda they intercrop with Coffee. Here is good to say that many studies done mostly by the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) showed that it is more benefic to farmers to
mix coffee with banana, than planting each of those two crops separately. What is most
important while mixing banana with others crops is not to plant near the suckers to avoid the
tools to make injuries on the banana roots; otherwise, the roots will not be able to take water and
other nutrients from the soil.

Manure: 20 kg of organic manure in each hole is good for a well growth of banana suckers, if
farmers they have means they can also add 125 gr of NPK 17.17.17 or 125 gr of urea before
planting. Each six months they can add manure. For adding manure farmers will dig a hole
around the sucker in 60cm from it and the manure will be filled in that small hole and it has after
to be covered. That way is important than putting the manure immediately on the sucker without
digging. When Farmers they put it without digging, the roots of suckers will come above the soil
to seek for nutrients and they will be injured or dried by the sun. When the manure is filled in
that small hole around the sucker, roots will stay in the soil.

Removing of dried leaves and sheaths: It is good to remove dried leaves and sheaths and to
use them as mulch.

Use and importance of banana

Banana has a social economic importance mostly in East Africa (Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda
and Burundi). It is the staple food of the population of those countries. Production is manly by

26
small –scale farmers and cooperatives that profit from improved incomes and nutrition mostly in
Rwanda.

Values added are: banana wine, banana beer, dried banana and banana chips.
Fiber for exportation: Rwandan banana are organic and are used for making many hand
grafted staffs.

V. PESTS AND DISEASES OF BANANA

Major banana pests are:
the banana weevils

Nematodes

Major diseases are:

Fusarium (dessert types)

Sigatoka (Cooking bananas)

Cigar end rot

Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV)

Banana Streak Virus (BST)

Bacterial wilt (BW)

Pests

Banana weevil and signs of infestation

The weevil is the main pest of banana rhizomes and corms

Most visible symptoms of weevils attack is tunnelling of the corm. Those tunnels have a
black colour

27
 Adult weevils are most noticeable. And they lay eggs that hatch into larva in tunnels
through the corm when feeding

Plate 23: Banana weevils

• The banana weevil is an important insect pest of bananas and plantain

• Weevil attack can prevent crop establishment, cause significant yield reductions in
ratoon cycles and contribute to shortened plantation life

• The adult banana weevils are free-living but most often they are found at the base of
banana mats or associated with crop residues

• Oviposition is in the base of the banana mat where the larvae tunnel in the rhizome and
lower pseudostem part

• Damage to the banana plant is entirely the result of larval feeding which may kill young
suckers and prevent crop establishment in newly planted fields

• Severe tunnelling interferes with uptake of water, nutrients and root formation
28
 Common effects are:
• wilting and dying of youngest leaves;

• small bunches; and

• break and snap due severe tunnels

Means of spread
Weevils are spread with infested planting material

Adults move and spread throughout a plantations. A single weevil can live for up to one
year laying many eggs.

Adults feed at night. They hide in moist residues in the day such as:

Old leaf sheaths

Old pseudostems

Also lay eggs in the residues

Control measures

Use clean planting material:

The common method is to pare corm by removing roots and then removal all
tunnels. If tunnels are too much it is better no to use the sucker

Dip pared suckers in water overnight or in solution of chemical (Dursban liquid:

15ml in 20 litres of water).

Use tissue culture or macro-propagated material from proven clean plants ( free
from diseases and pests)

29
 Weevil traps
• Split pseudsotem and cut it into 25cm of long pieces.

• Put the pseudostem pieces (= traps) with the flat side down at the base of the plant.

• Weevils are attracted and will hide under the trap.

• Collect and kill the adult weevils after 2-3 days

• It is important not to kill them in field to avoid to spread eggs that will give further new
weevils.

• Collected adult weevils have to be put in fire to kill them completely

Plate 24: Weevil traps

2. Nematodes and signs of infestation

These are root pests. They cannot be seen with a naked eye.

Most common signs are:

• internal necrosis of roots;

30
 • dead roots and;
• topping (uprooting) of whole plant

Plate 25: Banana nematodes

Plate 26: Suckers uprooted by nematodes

31
 Control measures
Use clean planting material by paring of suckers to removal all roots that may hide nematodes.

Some cultivars have resistance to nematodes (FHIA). Plantations severely infested with
nematodes should be uprooted, planted with cassava or sweet potatoes for 2 years (to starve
nematodes) and replant.

Diseases

Fusarium wilt

• Affects dessert bananas

Leaves yellow and drop

Plant often fails to fruit and dries

When the corm is cut, brown colourations is seen and the plant has a foul smell.

Uproot infected plants. Take care of implements as the disease is transmitted in their use.

Resistant varieties are the FHIA types

32
 Plate 27: Brown colouration in corm with a foul smell

Plate 28: Yellow leaves and drop on the sucker

Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) disease

Causes
• BXW is caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum.

33
• It is a gram negative bacteria, yellow, dome shaped, mucous, circular and shiny and able
to grow under anaerobic conditions

Pathogen dissemination
Wounds are major route:

from shed male flowers and bracts

From mechanical damage by tools
Human: by using cutting tools that are infected.

Foraging insects: by picking ooze from cushions.

Plate 29: Leaves quickly wilt (scalded) and are yellow

34
Plate 30: Male bud of infected sucker

Plate 31: Vascular discoloration and yellow ooze

35
 Plate 32: Vascular discoloration and yellow ooze

Plate 33: Banana bunch becomes mature very early

36
 Plate 34: Banana bunch becomes mature very
early

Transmission of BXW
It can be done by insects, tools, planting materials, browsing animals and by human
feet…

Control methods of BXW

Use of clean planting materials
Remove the male bud to avoid transmission by insects like bees
Use only disinfected tools and in area with that disease it is better for farmers not to
borrow tools from their neighbors

Symptoms of BXW
• Wilting/drying of male buds
• Bunches ripen prematurely

37
 • Leaves quickly wilt and then yellow

• Vascular discoloration and yellow ooze

• Attacks highland bananas and exotic bananas

• Seem to survive for a short time in soil probably a few months (6 months)

Fusarium wilt disease

• No symptoms on male buds

• Bunches only become small

• Leaves yellow

• Vascular discoloration and no yellow ooze

• Attacks only exotic bananas

• Survives in soil for up to 30 years

Banana Bunchy Top Virus disease (BBTV)

• Most destructive banana virus disease

Symptoms
Dark green streaks in the veins of lower portions of the leaf midrib and stem

New leaves emerge with difficulty, are narrower than normal, are curved rather
than flat, and they have yellow (chlorotic) leaf margins

Appear to be “bunched” at the top of the plant

Severely infected banana plants usually will not fruit, but if fruit is produced, the
banana hands and fingers are likely to be with abnormal form

38
 Dissemination
Aphids (Pentalonia nigronervosa). The aphid can retain the virus through its
adult life, for a period of 15–20 days

Diseased plants

Control
No cure for BBTV, but disease can be reducing by:

- control using aphicides

- Destroying diseased plants

Plate 35: Aphid that transmits BBTV

39
 Plate 36: Suckers with BBTV

Banana Streak Virus disease (BSTV)

• Occurs worldwide and is distributed throughout Africa

Symptoms
Continous or dis-continous chlorotic or necrotic streaks on leaves

Necrosis of pseudostem

Occassionally may lead to plant death

Dissemination
- Mealy bugs

- Vegetative propagation

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 Plate 37: Continous or dis-continous chlorotic or necrotic streaks on leaves

Sigatoka disease
It is a worldwide spread disease

Symptoms
• Tiny, chlorotic spots that appear on the bottom surface of the 3rd or 4th open leaf
• Spots grow into thin brown streaks that are limited by leaf veins
• Lesions then enlarge, becoming fusiform or elliptical and darken to give the
characteristic black streaking of the leaves
• When the disease severity is high, large areas of the leaf may become blackened

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 Plate 38: When the disease severity is high, large areas of the leaf may become
blackened

Plate 39: Lesions then enlarge, becoming fusiform or elliptical and darken to give the
characteristic black streaking of the leaves

Cigar end rot disease

• Caused by either Verticillium theobromae or by Trachysphaera fructigena

• Rarely affects more than 2 cm of fingertip and more intense during wet seasons

• Verticillium colonizes flower and leaf trash it can also attack fruits in storage

42
 Symptoms
• As the fruit develops, the infection spreads slowly along with the fruit
growth causing blackening of the skin.
• Tip of the infected fingers later gets covered with a powdery mass of
spores resembling grey ash end of a cigar.

Control
• Removal the untransformed flowers after the finger emergence.
• Spray the bunches with 0.25% Indofil once in 15 days and later cover the
bunches with polythene

Plate 40: Tip of the infected

nfected fingers later gets covered with a powdery mass of spores
resembling grey ash end of a cigar.

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Role of minerals in banana

Table 1: Role of Magnesium (Mg), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) in Plants (Source:
Ieuan et al, 1998)
Soil Minerals Plants (P) Animals (A) Man (M) Comments

Magnesium The key element in Present in the Involved in Calcium and potassium
(Mg) the chlorophyll body skeleton protein interfere with Mg
Macronutrient molecule. There and a co-factor in synthesis DNA absorption in plants.
would be no many enzyme and RNA. Mg levels in soil
greening in the reactions. Present in all should be greater than
absence of Mg. First green plant that of K.
shows up as parts that are
yellowing on older consumed as
leaves. food.

Phosphorus Essential for all Present in bones, Average person High phosphorus
(P) plant growth, i.e. teeth and eats 7 to 10 dietary levels can lead
Macronutrient energy transfer numerous times the adult to calcium imbalance
metabolic requirement for (bone loss-
reactions. P. osteoporosis).

Potassium The major ion Involved in nerve With extreme Potassium is

(K) inside every living impulses and sweating or universally present in
Macronutrient plant and animal muscle diarrhea, all foods.
cell. contraction, potassium
including the deficiency can
heart muscle occur (over-
use of diuretic
medications

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Plate 41:: Nitrogen (N) Deficiency

45
Plate 42:: Phosphate (P) deficiency

Plate 43:: Potassium (K) Deficiency

46
Plate 44: Draught: chlorosis of the leaves that fall on the banana trunk

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 VI. CONCLUSION
Banana is a crop that is important mostly for the population in East Africa countries where
banana is used as staple food. It has a social economic importance in country like Rwanda.
Farmers sell it for improving their incomes and for the diversification to target many and
different consumers on market, they make from it wine, beer, juice, dried banana chips and it
has a very nice textile in which mostly women are making hand crafted staff that can be even
sold on regional and international market to increase their incomes.

Study done mostly by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) helped farmers
from those countries to improve their skills in good practices of banana husbandry in order to
have good banana orchard by introducing new varieties that give more production and that are
resistance to many diseases and pests, among resistant varieties we can say for example all
varieties of FHIA; and also the research showed to farmers how to prevent or to protect diseases
and pests that are affecting banana.

That book shows to farmers the new and benefit propagation method of banana which gives
clean material, free from diseases and pests. It will help to farmers and researchers worldwide to
know how to establish a good banana orchard.

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 VI. REFERENCES

Ieuan E. and Elston S., 1998, Minerals for Plants, Animals and Man. Alberta.ca . Agriculture,
Food and Rural Development. Agri.News article.

Morton, J. 1987. Banana In: Fruits of warm climates. Miami, FL. p. 29–46

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