Common Banana Plant Diseases and Prevention Methods

Banana is a fruit-bearing plant with high nutritional value. However, for banana plants to yield high productivity and quality, besides the aspects of breeding and care techniques, pest and disease prevention techniques are crucial.

1.Leaf spot diseases: Yellow Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella musicola) and Black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis

a. Harmful characteristics:

• The disease manifests as oval-shaped brown spots with clear yellow margins on the leaves for Yellow Sigatoka, and darker spots for Black Sigatoka on the underside of the leaves.
• It typically appears on the second, third, or fourth leaves from the top. Initially, the lesions are small, ranging from 1 to 10 mm, with a width of 0.5 to 1 mm, light yellow or brown in color. The spots usually align along the leaf veins, later developing into small diamond-shaped, dark brown lesions with yellow halos. Numerous black spots may merge to form large dry patches.
• Severely affected plants often fail to produce new leaves. During the rainy season, the fungal disease spreads through water flowing over the leaves, causing the lesions to align in rows. In the dry season, the lesions develop at the leaf tips, causing leaf margins or tips to burn, stunted growth, pale yellow fruit pulp, with a bitter taste.

b. Control measures:

• Agricultural practices: Avoid planting bananas in acidic soil. The soil should have good drainage, planted at appropriate densities, ensuring adequate ventilation for the banana plantation. Apply sufficient fertilizer, especially increasing phosphorus and potassium to enhance plant resistance. Regularly remove old leaves and diseased leaves to limit disease spread. Select disease-resistant and disease-free varieties.
• Agrifuture recommends using effective fungicidal products such as SV - ATOMER 11WP, TVZeb Japane 70WP when the disease first appears. Apply twice, seven days apart.

SV - ATOMER 11WP product information:

Characteristics and Uses:

Atomer 11WP is crystallized from antibacterial and broad-spectrum antifungal agents, which are currently leading active ingredients. Its ability to competitively inhibit Trehalase enzyme and the Ergosterol synthesis process has conferred superior strength to Atomer in comprehensively protecting crops against various prevalent harmful diseases.

Instructions for Use:

Atomer 11WP is registered for controlling black spot disease on roses.

Dosage: 600g/ha. Dissolve 1 packet in 400 - 600 liters of water.

Water volume: 400 - 600 liters/ha.

Timing: Spray when the disease is newly appeared, with a disease ratio of about 5 - 6%.

Isolation period: 14 days

• Product information on TVZeb Japane 70WP

Characteristics and Benefits:

A breakthrough formula has created a TVZeb Japane 70WP with synergistic power from two components with specialized extermination mechanisms.

As a result, TVZeb Japane 70WP is vastly superior to other products with immediate and prolonged effectiveness, while also promoting dense foliage and quick recovery.

Instructions for Use:

TVZeb Japane 70WP is registered for the control of brown spot disease on dragon fruit.

Dosage: 0.3%. Mix 50-80g per 25-liter container. Or use 250g per 100-150 liters of water.

Spray volume: 400 - 900 liters/ha. Apply when the disease first appears, at a disease incidence rate of about 5%.

Re-entry interval: 7 days after spraying.

Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) disease.

(a) Harmful Characteristics:

When affected by the Banana Bunchy Top Disease, the leaves become narrow, erect, and tightly rolled together, resembling a bunch. The petioles are shortened, and the leaves become brittle, easily torn. Dark yellow streaks appear on the leaves, interspersed with dark green streaks.
If the disease occurs early in the plant's growth or if it is severely affected, the plant will gradually decline and not produce any fruit. If fruits do develop, they will be very small and unripe. If mature plants are infected, the emerging banana bunches will fail to separate, or if they do, the bunches may be deformed, the fruits small, unappetizing, or the bunches may emerge sideways from the stem.
The disease spreads directly through suckers and via the vector, the banana aphid (Pentalonia nigronervosa), which lives on banana leaves.

(b) Control Measures:

Agricultural practices: Avoid using sucker plants from banana gardens or clusters that have been affected by the disease as planting material for subsequent seasons. It's best to use tissue-cultured seedlings. Regularly inspect banana plantations to detect diseased plants early. If a diseased plant is found, it should be immediately removed, uprooted entirely, and disposed of outside the plantation by burial or destruction to prevent further spread. Avoid designing banana plantations adjacent to heavily affected gardens to prevent the spread of the disease to newly planted gardens.
Disease vector management: The vector for BBTV is the banana aphid (Pentalonia nigronervosa). Therefore, maintaining garden cleanliness by removing weeds, pruning, discarding old leaves, and thinning out excessive sucker plants ensures good airflow, reduces humidity in the garden, especially during the rainy season. Avoid continuous planting of bananas on the same piece of land; instead, practice crop rotation with different plants.
Agrifuture Company recommends using AF - Fenromat 26SC to effectively control aphids.

Product Information AF - Fenromat 26SC

Characteristics and Uses:

AF - Fenromat 26SC is formulated from a unique blend of 2 advanced active ingredients with 2 distinct, potent insecticidal mechanisms. The pesticide directly impacts the peripheral nervous system and inhibits ACC, disrupting the lipid synthesis process in insects. Therefore, the product is immediately effective, even against resistant pests, and remains efficacious for several days after application.

Usage Instructions:

AF - Fenromat 26SC is registered for the control of pod borers on peanuts.

Dosage: 500ml/ha. Mix 20ml with 25 liters of water.

Water volume: 450 - 500 liters/ha.

Timing: Apply when pod borers first appear (1 - 2 weeks old).

Density: Approximately 1 - 2 insects per plant.

Re-entry interval: 14 days.

3.Black Sigatoka Disease (Colletotrichum musae)

(a) Harmful Features

Fungi penetrate through wounds of young fruits after about 30 days. They persist on the fruit surface and manifest as egg-like spots when the fruit ripens. Fungal growth occurs on the fruit surface throughout the year. However, winter ripened bananas are more heavily affected than summer ripened bananas.

(b) Control Measures

Agrifuture company recommends using the product TVAzomide 25WP to spray for disease prevention on fruits before bagging.

• Product information for TVAzomide 25WP:

Characteristics and Uses:

A unique and pioneering invention has resulted in TVAzomide 25WP, which operates with a specialized fungicidal mechanism by directly targeting the fungal pathogens' metabolism through inhibiting succinate dehydrogenase and ATP energy production. This leads to the immediate death of the fungal pathogens upon application.

TVAzomide 25WP possesses strong systemic and translaminar action, ensuring rapid and thorough eradication of the fungi.

Usage Instructions:

TVAzomide 25WP is registered for the control of leaf spot disease in coffee.

Application Timing: Apply twice with a 7-day interval, with the first application when the disease first appears, typically at an incidence rate of 5-6%.

Dosage: 0.1%. Dilute 20g sachet in 25 liters of water.

Water Volume: 500-800 liters per hectare. Apply uniformly to wet the foliage of the crop.

Re-entry Interval: 7 days.

3.Panama Wilt Disease (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp Cubense)

(a) Harmful Characteristics:

• Initially, the disease appears on the lower leaves, causing them to gradually turn yellow from the edges inward, then spreading upwards to the upper leaves. Concurrently, the leaf stems bend downwards, and eventually the leaf blades wither and die. When the lower leaves are affected, the upper leaves may remain alive but turn pale green with a slight yellowish tinge and become distorted.
• Later, the leaves become wilted, bent, and eventually die. After the leaves die, the outer leaf sheaths crack, giving the pseudo-stem a rotten, dry appearance, and they bend downwards. Newly emerged shoots initially show no signs of disease, but later they also turn yellow, wither, and die gradually. If infected early, the plant may die or not produce fruit. If mature plants are infected, they may still produce fruit, but it will be small. Longitudinal splits in the diseased plant stem will emit a foul odor, with brown stripes on the outer sheaths and yellow stripes on the inner, young sheaths. Upon cutting a banana rhizome, damaged vascular bundles will be evident, forming yellow, reddish-brown spots.

(b) Preventive Measures:

• Agronomic measures: Plant disease-resistant varieties. Planting in high turtle-shell-shaped ridges helps with good water drainage during the rainy season. Gardens located in low-lying areas should have deep drainage ditches to draw excess water away from the root zone during the rainy season.
• Avoid excessive nitrogen fertilizer application; maintain a balanced application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and increase the use of composted manure. Lime should be applied to planting holes to neutralize acidity in acidic soils. Keep the garden clean by regularly removing diseased leaves and burning them. Choose neutral to slightly alkaline soil for banana cultivation. Never use plants from diseased gardens as seedlings for other gardens. When diseased plants are detected, remove the diseased roots and apply lime to sterilize the soil. If a banana plantation suffers severe disease, suspend cultivation, flood the area with water for 2-3 months to kill disease pathogens, and then practice crop rotation with other crops. Diseased plants must be chopped down and completely uprooted, then the roots should be removed from the garden and destroyed. Afterward, sprinkle lime powder on the spot where the plant was removed to sterilize the soil before replanting bananas.
• Similar to the Panama wilt disease, the use of TVAzomide 25WP is the most effective method for preventing Panama wilt disease in banana plants.

Conclusion:

This article updates on preventive measures against harmful diseases in banana plants such as Panama wilt disease, Panama disease, Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV), Yellow Sigatoka leaf spot disease, etc. With the information provided, we hope that farmers will take proactive measures to effectively prevent diseases and find effective solutions to combat these dangerous diseases. Wishing everyone success!