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Is GMO a viable longterm solution to Banana Bacterial wilt in Uganda? http://news.discovery.com/earth/bananaspeppersgenes.htm (Submitted via Twitter on March 25, 2014: https://twitter.com/shawn_cheung/status/448548184277925888)

Submitted by: GMOAnswers on Twitter


Answer

Expert response from Leena Tripathi

Principal Scientist and Deputy Regional Director of East Africa Hub of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Monday, 06/07/2015 18:54

Banana bacterial wilt is the most devastating disease of banana in the east Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo), where banana is a major staple crop produced mostly by smallholder subsistence farmers. The disease is very destructive, infecting all banana varieties, including both East African Highland bananas and exotic dessert and beer bananas. The economic impact of the disease is potentially disastrous, because it destroys whole plants leading to complete yield loss, and the farmers do not have the option of relocating to new planting sites that are infection free. Once these pathogens have become established, disease control is very difficult and eradication impossible. There are no commercial chemicals, bio-control agents or resistant cultivars available to control banana bacterial wilt disease. The disease can, however, be managed by following cultural practices such as the cutting and burying of infected plants, restricting the movement of banana planting materials from banana bacterial wilt disease affected to disease free areas, removal of male buds and the use of sterilized tools. The adoption of such practices has been inconsistent as they are labour intensive and farmers believe that debudding affects the fruit quality.

 

Use of disease-resistant cultivars has been an effective and economically viable strategy for integrated management of diseases in numerous crops. Till now no banana germplasm has been identified, which has resistance to bacterial wilt disease. Such germplasm is required in order to develop resistant varieties through conventional breeding. Even if resistant germplasm sources are identified, conventional breeding of banana is a difficult and lengthy process due to sterility of most cultivars coupled with long generation times. To circumvent these difficulties, GMO technologies may provide a cost-effective alternative long- term solution to control banana bacterial wilt disease.

Answer

Expert response from Leena Tripathi

Principal Scientist and Deputy Regional Director of East Africa Hub of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Monday, 06/07/2015 18:54

Banana bacterial wilt is the most devastating disease of banana in the east Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo), where banana is a major staple crop produced mostly by smallholder subsistence farmers. The disease is very destructive, infecting all banana varieties, including both East African Highland bananas and exotic dessert and beer bananas. The economic impact of the disease is potentially disastrous, because it destroys whole plants leading to complete yield loss, and the farmers do not have the option of relocating to new planting sites that are infection free. Once these pathogens have become established, disease control is very difficult and eradication impossible. There are no commercial chemicals, bio-control agents or resistant cultivars available to control banana bacterial wilt disease. The disease can, however, be managed by following cultural practices such as the cutting and burying of infected plants, restricting the movement of banana planting materials from banana bacterial wilt disease affected to disease free areas, removal of male buds and the use of sterilized tools. The adoption of such practices has been inconsistent as they are labour intensive and farmers believe that debudding affects the fruit quality.

 

Use of disease-resistant cultivars has been an effective and economically viable strategy for integrated management of diseases in numerous crops. Till now no banana germplasm has been identified, which has resistance to bacterial wilt disease. Such germplasm is required in order to develop resistant varieties through conventional breeding. Even if resistant germplasm sources are identified, conventional breeding of banana is a difficult and lengthy process due to sterility of most cultivars coupled with long generation times. To circumvent these difficulties, GMO technologies may provide a cost-effective alternative long- term solution to control banana bacterial wilt disease.