DA bares breakthrough treatment for disease afflicting bananas

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) has developed a breakthrough organic control for a disease that has plagued the local banana industry for many years.

The DA said Philmech executive director Ricardo Cachuela and chief scientist Dr. Dionisio Alvindia have developed an organic/biological solution for crown rot, heralded as the first of its kind in the world.

According to Cachuela, the development of the organic/biological solution should be a welcome development for the local banana industry which has relied on chemical solutions for many years to control crown rot.

With this breakthrough, Cachuela said banana farmers and commercial growers could meet the strict standards set by countries importing bananas.

Crown rot is the most severe post-harvest disease besetting the banana industry in the country. Scientists have identified the disease as a syndrome caused by several fungi like Lasiodplodia theobromae, Colletotichum musae, Thielavopsis paradoxa and other Fusarium species.

To control crown rot, farmers and commercial banana growers spray chemicals or fungicides. The disease can also be controlled by submerging clusters of banana in a fungicide solution.

“Small scale farmers in the Philippines are now exporting bananas without pesticide use during production and post-harvest handling. These bananas are often referred to as ‘non-chemical bananas’ preferred by Japanese consumers. Because of the long interval of 19 to 21 days from harvest to market and due to non treatment of pesticides, export quality bananas deteriorate due to crown rot,” Alvindia said.

The PhilMech scientist discovered that epithetic fungi and bacteria can be used to control banana crown rot. His recent research identified and tested the antagonist fungi and bacteria in the laboratory and during the post-harvest handling of bananas in a packing house.

“There is an urgent need to find biological control solutions to this problem to be consistent with the effort to sustain the export of non-chemical bananas to Japan,” Alvindia pointed out.

He added that the use of the antagonistic microorganisms has recently emerged as a viable disease control for post-harvest diseases of fruits and vegetables.

Alvindia has pending patents for the microorganisms responsible for the control of banana crown rot. He is currently formulating strategies to commercialize the new technology.

Cachuela said PhilMech would continue to look for solutions to improve post-harvest technologies and farm mechanization in the country.