Insect visitors are made to feel unwelcome in banana crops. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Summary for Project title: R8484: Identifying Insect Vectors and Transmission Mechanisms for Banana Xanthamonas Wilt to Improve Understanding of Disease Epidemiology.
Farmers are controlling a major banana disease, Xanthomonas wilt, by preventing the entry of insects that carry a bacterium (Xcm) that causes the disease. Removing male buds from the plants is one solution. Another is the destruction of infected plants to keep them from continuing to attract insects. Finally, by opting for banana varieties in which the male flower cushions have a natural protective covering farmers make their crops inaccessible to the insect vectors. These findings were made possible thanks to the identification of an improved medium for isolating Xcm from insects, soil and plants. The new control techniques are being promoted in Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda using participatory methods.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (15 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPP18, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 23.