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Home | Jamaica increases farm biosecurity for prevention of banana and plantain disease
As Jamaica joins the rest of the world in celebrating International Banana Day on April 21, the country continues to be on high alert for the prevention of the Tropical Race 4 (TR4), formerly known in Jamaica as Panama Disease Race 4 (PDR4), a deadly disease of banana and plantains.
Among the symptoms of the TR4 disease are premature yellowing of the oldest leaves and buckling of green leaves in Gros Michel bananas.
TR4 is a serious threat to the production of the crop with repercussions on livelihoods of smallholder producers, workers, traders and stakeholders along the banana and plantain value chain. Additionally, most of the bananas produced locally are consumed. The disease, therefore, poses a significant threat to both food safety and food security.
General Manager of The Banana Board, Janet Conie, is reminding persons that importation of banana and plantain plants or plantlets is prohibited from countries where TR4 is present.
“If you visit banana/plantain fields in countries with TR4, you must leave the clothes or shoes in that country,” said, Conie
The Jamaica Banana and Plantain Industry (JBPI) is a significant contributor to sustainable rural development, income generation, employment creation, foreign exchange earnings/savings; food security and stability with 68,612 farmers operating in the JBPI - 15,290 commercial and 53,323micro or subsistence.
Banana is an important staple food and a source of income for over 400 million people worldwide. Approximately 23% of the bananas produced in Jamaica are non-commercial for consumption by family and friends and not traded. It is the cheapest starch or staple eaten in various forms by 98% of the population.
The deadly disease of banana and plantain was discovered in the Americas in June 2019 with losses in Indonesia estimated at US$121 million and in Taiwan at US$253M. In Mozambique, weekly losses were approximately US$236,000 while more than 40,000 hectares of banana in China are infected with TR4 and approximately 11,000 hectares in the Philippines.
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