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Capacity Development on Diagnostic and Surveillance System of Banana Fusarium Wilt Disease - TCP/RAS/3619

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 10

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Banana is the fruit accounting for the largest quantityof international and domestic trade, supporting around8 million farmers in Asia for their daily income. The bananaindustry, however, is beset with the damage caused byFusarium wilt, a disease that spreads through movementof planting materials or soil attached to non-hosts. Thedisease caused the complete collapse in internationaltrade of the Gros Michel banana variety in the early 1900s,although the situation stabilized following the introductionof the Cavendish cultivar in the 1920s. In the 1980’s,however, the Cavendish cultivars also succumbedto Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4(hereafter referred to as “Foc TR4”).At regional level, Foc TR4 was detected in Taiwan in the1980s and spread to Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1990s.The disease has now reached China and the Philippines,while the National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs)of Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic,Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam have reported theobservation of infested banana areas. Amid fears thatthe disease might spread, affecting banana production bysmall farmers for national and export markets, a requestwas made to FAO for technical support to control thedisease.The project focused on the importance of detectionsurveys to determine the status and extent of Foc TR4disease infestation in recipient countries, in an attemptto mitigate and prevent its spread to new areas. Its aimwas to build the capacity of the six recipient countries todevelop and advocate the viable options for mitigatingthe incursion and preventing the spread of bananaFoc TR4 disease.As a result of project activities, regional and nationalcontrol strategies for Foc TR4 were developed during ameeting of

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    Global banana production is seriously threatened by the re-emergence of a Fusarium Wilt. The disease, caused by the soil-borne fungi Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) and also known as “Panama disease”, wiped out the Gros Michel banana industry in Central America and the Caribbean, in the mid-twentieth century. The effects of Foc Race 1 were overcome by a shift to resistant Cavendish cultivars, which are currently the source of 99% of banana exports.
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    Bananas are the world's fourth most important staple food and an important consumption and export item in RLC, a region that is home to six of the world's top ten exporters and three of the world's top producers Banana Fusarium Wilt, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f sp cubense Foc is one of the most destructive banana and plantain diseases worldwide and a serious threat to the RLC region Tropical Race 4 Foc TR 4 has caused severe losses in southeast Asian countries with serious repercussions for smallholders, workers and the banana value chain It is estimated that without consistent and coordinated action between and among countries, this pest could affect more than 1 6 million ha by 2040 The Foc TR 4 can be spread by infested plant materials, spores and soil particles attached to agricultural tools, shoes, vehicles and other means Irrigation and water drainage, particularly flooding, plays a critical role in its spread Controlling its spread requires the strengthening of country prevention and surveillance systems, but also a commitment to international coordination in order to develop and implement collective protection strategies There is therefore a need to i formulate a regional action plan for Foc TR 4 prevention, surveillance and eventual response ii) develop and adopt national action plans for Foc TR 4 response, surveillance and prevention and iii) build capacities to contribute to Foc TR 4 prevention, response and surveillance, as essential elements for ownership and sustainability of all these actions.
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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Preventing the spread and introduction of banana fusarium wilt disease Tropical race 4 (TR4)
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    2020
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    Banana is an important crop for food security and ensuring the livelihoods of approximately 400 million people who depend on the crop either as a staple food or source of income, particularly in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Plant pests and diseases can seriously affect agricultural production and livelihood of rural people. Fusarium wilt of banana is one of the key examples of crop devastation by a plant disease. This disease brought the banana export industry almost to a halt in the 20th century when the popular banana variety Gros Michel was devastated in Central America. The sector was saved by the introduction of the Cavendish variety, which is resistant to race 1 of the fungus. However, Cavendish bananas are now succumbing to a new, highly aggressive strain of the Fusarium wilt fungus, Tropical race 4 (TR4). Fusarium wilt TR4 threatens almost all banana producers, posing the greatest risks to countries producing Cavendish bananas in monoculture plantations in Asia, Australia, Africa, the Near East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Cavendish bananas, which constitute approximately half of the bananas grown globally are highly susceptible to TR4, but other dessert banana varieties grown in these regions are also susceptible. Once established in a banana plantation, the fungus can survive in the soil for decades with its chlamydospores, even without banana plants. Scientific reports indicate the presence of TR4 in numerous countries in Asia (China – mainland and Taiwan Province), India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar,
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