Moko disease is a bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum invading the vascular tissues of hosts. When talking about threats in Ecuador’s banana industry, concern is focused on the imminent and fearsome arrival of the deadly fusarium, but little is said about moko, an equally devastating disease. Infectious foci have already been reported in plantations in 12 provinces.
Phytopathologists qualify moko or bacterial wilt as one of the phytosanitary problems with great economic impact on banana and plantain crops in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. In Ecuador it was detected for the first time in 1978 in the Amazon (Napo), but today, says Víctor Hugo Quimí, a banana expert, it is present in areas of Esmeraldas, Manabí, Los Ríos, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Santo Domingo and Sucumbíos.
Source: ecuadortimes.net
