India: Race against fusarium wilt in Cavendish bananas

Tropical Race 4 (TR4), the virulent strain of fungus Fusarium oxysporum cubense that is threatening banana crop globally with the fusarium wilt disease, has hit the plantations in India, the world’s top producer of the fruit. The devastating disease, which surfaced in the Cavendish group of bananas in parts of Bihar, is now spreading to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and even Gujarat, and threatening to inflict heavy losses to the country’s €6 billion banana industry.

Alarmed over the spread of the disease, farm policymakers are expected to discuss control measure with various States to curb the spread of the pathogen at the forthcoming National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign later this week, sources said. India is the largest producer of banana and accounts for 29.1 percent of the global output. The country’s output is estimated at around 30 million tons from an area of 800.000 hectares.

TR4, the soil-borne pathogen infests banana plants with the fusarium wilt disease through the roots that spreads to the vascular system and blocks transportation of water and nutrients in the stem, resulting in yellowing of leaves and plant death.

According to thehindubusinessline.com, the disease had initially surfaced in the Katihar and Purnea districts of Bihar in 2015 and had spread to the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh last year and now to Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat. However, details of total acreage affected hit by the disease were not available.