Tissue Culture Plants Reduce Risk

A local farmer Mr. Sahu in Raipur recently contacted the AKF team in a panic. His bananas were showing dark green steaks on the leaves, which were also ‘bunchy’ and curling. When our team went to visit his field, he informed us that he used suckers obtained from a farmer friend to save cost.

Sadly, there was not much he could do for the banana crops. They were affected with the banana bunchy top virus; a disease that is caused by a type of virus carrying aphid. The disease was first found in the early 1900s and has been affecting bananas ever since. The disease can stay in the soil and infect new plants and cause extensive crop loss.

Governments and regulators have become concerned by this virus because it can hurt the economy if it becomes more widespread or worse, as it could affect other crops that are grown near bananas which would lead to an increase in food prices

 Our team advised him to remove infected plants and clean field. For the plants not yet showing symptoms, he was advised to inject with 4 ml of Fernoxone solution (50g in 400 ml of water). We also recommended spraying plants with phosphomidon 1ml /litre or Methyldemeton 2ml/ litre or monocrotophos 1ml /litre. Further, banana should not be planted into the same field for few years.

Sahu has decided never to use suckers going forward to reduce costs. Buying tissue culture banana plants may seem a greater upfront investment, but is important to mitigate the risk of viral and fungal diseases. Afterall, some shortcuts can lead to expensive accidents.