According to Agriculture Minister Roland Royer, the Dominican government is reviewing the treatment for Black Sigatoka, a leaf spot disease of banana and plantain plants caused by ascomycete fungus. The Black Sigatoka disease was first detected in Dominica in July 2012.
“We have a banana and plantain unit at the Ministry, that too we have a few challenges with the Black Sigatoka,” Royer said. “For the past two months, we have been reassessing it and thinking how we can do things better to ensure that we get the level of production that is desired, so we are reviewing the treatment for Black Sigatoka and the way in which it is done.”
Furthermore, he stated that going forward the government plans to empower farmers and equip them, so that they can be trained, “to do their own spraying, make the oils and fungicides [available] to them for better management of plantain and bananas.”
Source: dominicanewsonline.com