By Umar Nsubuga
Livingstone Nakabaale, a famous gray juice banana farmer in Kalagala, Nakaseke district has started wondering why some of his bananas are turning yellowish.
“Although a lot of emphasis is put on the banana bacterial wilt, I was recently told there is another wilt called the fusarium wilt that is attacking bananas,” he narrates.
Gideon Zakke, an agronomist says it is a fungus that lives in the soil and attacks the stem. It is also called the Panama disease. It spreads through the soil and from mother plants to their suckers.
“The fungus lives in the soil for 30 years infecting new bananas when are planted,” he says.
The disease attacks exclusively four banana varieties. They include, kisubi, kayinja, kamaramasenge, Ndizi and bogoya.
Symptoms
According to the National Agricultural Advisory Services, yellow skirts appear around the plants that have been attacked by the fusarium wilt.
The information states that the oldest leaves turn yellow. They collapse and look like a yellow skirt around the plant. The yellow spreads from the outside of the leaf.
Zakke also says infected plants fail to mature and produce fruits and if they become infected after fruiting, they gradually wither away.
He says young plants become stunted, and red or brown stains are visible on the cut stem. The stain starts out as pale red, turns darker and eventually becomes brown.
The National Agricultural Advisory Services gives tips on how to stop the fusarium wilt;
-Remove infected plants, including their suckers even if the suckers are yet to show symptoms and destroy them.
-Do not take suckers from infected areas to clean areas. l Fusarium wilt spreads in the soil that is on farm tools and shoes. Keep them clean to prevent it from spreading further.
-Isolate disease focus area to prevent spread.
– Lime the area to improve the conditions of the soil in order to keep the causative factors low.
-Plant some of the tried and tested resistant types.
These include highland cooking and beer banana varieties, and Cavendish varieties. You can also use FHIA17, FHIA 23, KM5, and other hybrids from NARO and other research stations.
