The Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed the presence of Fusarium Tropical Race 4, Foc R4T, in a Cavendish banana plant at a farm located in a municipality of the Magdalena department.
"This plantation has 193,461 banana plants planted in 108.53 hectares and we have only detected one single plant affected. The sample was analyzed at the ICA Phytosanitary Diagnostic Laboratory in Soledad-Atlántico, which confirmed that plant tissue was affected by the disease,” the authorities stated.
Based on the experience in the management of Fusarium in La Guajira, which has yielded excellent results, the ICA, the Ministry of Agriculture, Asbama, and Augura deployed the protocols established for the control and prevention of the spread of the fungus in Magdalena. Additionally, and as part of the outbreak delimitation process, authorities are taking 170 plant samples this week in a 5 km radius from the farm, which covers a total of 7 farms.
"We are confident that we can quickly contain this outbreak thanks to the experience we have gotten containing and managing Fusarium," stated the Minister of Agriculture, Rodolfo Zea Navarro. The national government is coordinating with all the institutions, mayors, and unions the actions necessary to generate confidence in world markets, he added.
The general manager of ICA, Deyanira Barrero Leon, said the pathogen was detected in a single plant in the entire farm. "We took five more samples from the same farm which were negative for Foc R4T and we immediately complemented this case with 40 samples from plants from the same lot and neighboring lots."
To contain the spread of the plague, the entities established the creation of a Fusarium management group with a scientific, technical, and academic committee. They will also build a risk map or matrix with the identification of neuralgic points, to be able to take specific actions.
The Association of Banana Growers of Colombia (Augura) requested the creation of a washing and disinfection station in Orihueca. They also said it was essential to define support for small producers in the region for the short, medium, and long term.
Source: rcnradio.com