Ugandan banana growers warned about banana wilt disease
The current outbreak in the region is significant because central region and western produces more than 70 per cent of the bananas consumed in Uganda, and therefore, could have serious consequences on food and the income security of small-scale farmers.
Misusera Mwanje is a farmer from Bukoto South in Masaka District who once loved growing the East African Highland banana species commonly referred to as Matooke.
However last year, her field was wiped out by the deadly wilt leaving her in utter confusion. The wilt was first reported in Uganda in 2001.
This was after farmers in Mukono and Kayunga districts reported a “strange disease” affecting their plantations which scientists later discovered was BBW.
It is now prevalent in many banana growing countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo.
The disease is spread by flies that visit the flowers of the male bud as well as farm tools such as pangas that are used to cut infected crops.
Farmers in central and western parts of the country have been the hardest hit. But there have been interventions to enable them to control the spread of the disease especially in the western region.
The plant is also faced with the challenge of black sigatoka disease which causes the leaves to dry up becoming black.
Pests such as nematodes which destroy the banana comb under the soil are other challenges farmers are faced with.
Source: www.monitor.co.ug
