The provincial agriculture office (Pagro of Davao del Norte is preparing to wage a massive early detection and prevention campaign against the proliferation of Fusarium wilt known as Panama disease.
In an interview, Pagro chief Dominador Encarnacion said his office is set to conduct an information and education campaign to let the public know more about the fungal infestation that is beginning to spread in banana plantations of the province.
During the campaign, Pagro will also warn banana growers against allowing farm animals such as chicken and pigs among others, to roam around their plantations as they are liable to spread the fungus.
Encarnacion said the Fusarium wilt is a soil borne-fungus which could have already been present in local banana plantations and was spread by the frequent flashfloods in previous months.
Encarnacion said about 50.4 hectares of banana plantations in Davao del Norte have been found infested with Fusarium wilt.
The most affected areas are in New Corella where more than 30 hectares of cavendish banana plantations were found with Fusarium, so with 17 hectares in Sto. Tomas. There are 17,000 hectares of banana plantations in the entire province..
He fungus is labelled Tropical Race 4 Fusarium Oxysporum (Foc). Its infestation first became widespread in Panama in 1890, and went on to further devastate the banana plantations in Central America and in the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s..
The provincial government of Davao del Norte early this month called the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) members to a meeting to discuss measures of checking the spread of the fungus. The Pagro recommended to Governor Rodolfo P. Del Rosario a course of action to address the Fusarium infestation.
In an interview, Pagro chief Dominador Encarnacion said his office is set to conduct an information and education campaign to let the public know more about the fungal infestation that is beginning to spread in banana plantations of the province.
During the campaign, Pagro will also warn banana growers against allowing farm animals such as chicken and pigs among others, to roam around their plantations as they are liable to spread the fungus.
Encarnacion said the Fusarium wilt is a soil borne-fungus which could have already been present in local banana plantations and was spread by the frequent flashfloods in previous months.
Encarnacion said about 50.4 hectares of banana plantations in Davao del Norte have been found infested with Fusarium wilt.
The most affected areas are in New Corella where more than 30 hectares of cavendish banana plantations were found with Fusarium, so with 17 hectares in Sto. Tomas. There are 17,000 hectares of banana plantations in the entire province..
He fungus is labelled Tropical Race 4 Fusarium Oxysporum (Foc). Its infestation first became widespread in Panama in 1890, and went on to further devastate the banana plantations in Central America and in the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s..
The provincial government of Davao del Norte early this month called the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) members to a meeting to discuss measures of checking the spread of the fungus. The Pagro recommended to Governor Rodolfo P. Del Rosario a course of action to address the Fusarium infestation.
