Banana, cassava diseases attack 47 districts
The government is to fund the research into banana wilt and cassava streak disease, President Yoweri Museveni has said. He made the announcement on Wednesday while meeting with district chairpersons, extension workers, Chief Administrative Officer s, district agricultural officers, farmers and minis...
- The President of the Republic of Uganda teams up with Dr. Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, Program Leader National Banana Research Program in the fight against the deadly Banana Xanthomonas wilt
- Museveni Advises Busonga Leaders on Banana Bactieral Wilt
- First Lady advices farmers on Banana Bacterial Wilt preventions
New matooke variety empowers households
By John Kasozi
EVA Musinguzi, Winifred Ntawera and Keziah Ruharuza cannot believe that the newly-released two-inch Kiwangaazi banana variety they despised is empowering them.
The trio, who are part of the 16 contact farmers for the National Banana Research Programme under the National Agricultural Res...
welcome
Welcome to the website of the National Banana Research Program. As one of the research arms of NARO, the National Banana Research Program is mandated to carry out research on Banana in Uganda. Its goal is to enhance banana productivity and utilization through development and promotion of technologies for integrated management of weevil, black Sigatoka and nematodes.
Enhanced banana productivity will, in turn, contribute to the Uganda national goal of improving food security and household income of people living under severe poverty. The NBRP comprises a team of interdisplinary scientists and students working closely to ensure that Banana improvement is approached from a wholistic perspective. The following working groups make up the Banana research team; Breeders, Pathologists, Socioeconomists, Biotechnologists, Nematologists and Entomologists.
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Mycosphaerella leaf
The overall symptom picture of the disorder observed during disease surveys consist mainly in poor development, rapid withering of older leaves, reduced number of functional leaves at bearing stage, poor bunch emergence, incomplete fruit filling, and premature ripening of fruits.
In addition to the above symptoms, other characteristics observed are as follows:
Accelerated drying of leaves, starting from the oldest leaves, and progressing towards the heart (unfurled) leaf was noted in all cases.
Leaf necrosis usually started from the apex of a leaf and progressed towards the base thus killing the entire tissue. Leaf spotting on other parts of the leaf blade was also noted, though this type of infection was less common.
Dark brown to reddish brown necrotic streaks developed along the leaf veins on young leaves which became visible to the naked eye when
they reached about 1mm.
With progression of the disease,these streaks developed into dark spindle- shaped lesions 10-20 mm long , often surrounded by a yellow halo. Lesions coalesced under climatic conditions favorable to disease development and killed the entire leaf tissue rapidly.
The centers of all lesions turned whitish in colour. In the superhumid zone affected plants often had less than four functional leaves which ultimately lead to emergence of small distorted bunches and prematurely ripening fruits.
Control;
High humidity favours development of the disease complex and can be controlled by modification of
the canopy environment through the following:
The recommended planting density of 2000 plants per hectare with spacing of 2.5 m x 2 m should not
be exceeded as this allows sun rays to reach the soil within the plantation.
Maintaining sucker density at a low level (2 - 3 suckers per plant). This allows good ventilation
within the plantations enabling the banana plant to thrive better in a well aerated environment.
Ensuring a good drainage system, and effecting regular weed control. A dense weed population
increases the humidity through transpiration.
The aim is to reduce the level of inoculum potential through:
(i) Removal of plants under stress (e.g. stunted plants or plants infested by banana weevils)
(ii) Removal and destruction of hanging leaves (infected or dried up)
(iii) Cutting down bearing plants which are severely affected.
Projects
