Officials of the Division of Agriculture have said that the Black Sigatoka disease currently plaguing Dominica has spread to more parts of the island.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning official of the division of agriculture, Joseph Blandford said that the spread, especially among plantain, is worrisome. “It has been very hectic as the disease continues to spread particularly into new areas and that is becoming a bit worrisome for us because Black Sigatoka is spread by the wind mainly but also man’s activity, and plantain is a serious crop for us in our economy,” he stated.
According to Blandford, the ministry is continuing its efforts to manage and contain the spread, however, there is a need to solicit greater co-operation from all stakeholders including the hucksters and law enforcement officers.
Blandford pointed out that it is at a stage where there is a need for law enforcement to get more involved in curbing the movement of trash material that is being purchased by hucksters.
Black Sigatoka was first detected in Dominica in July, 2012.
It is a leaf spot disease of banana plants caused by ascomycete fungus. The disease has moved into Concord along the main road, some parts of Marigot, the heights of Wesley, along the main road in Bense, Ross Castle, Central Region, Fond Cani, Elmshal, Goodwill and Bath Estate.
Coordinator of Black Sigatoka Management Unit, Carol Abraham added that the disease was curtailed by two severe seasons of drought in 2012 since the fungus requires damp conditions to spread.
She said she is not surprised that the disease has spread.
“We are asking people to de-leaf, which is removing the infected leaves from the trees and turning them upside down so that the fungus can go into the ground, de-suckering, composting; people are too heavily reliant on artificial fertilizers … we are encouraging persons to do their own composting with the very same leaves that they have chopped off,” Abraham remarked.
She noted further that the movement of banana trash remains a concern to the Ministry of agriculture.
“People have to understand that dead leaves still have the fungus and if you pack up a set of dried plantain leaves on your vehicle and you’re driving through an area as you’re driving the wind is releasing spores and that is why we tend to see the first set of trees to show signs of the disease are the ones along the roadside,” she noted.
She warned that such action is against the law according to the Plant Protection Act of 1986 in Dominica.
Abraham also explained that abandoned fields have become a major headache for the ministry in its fight against the disease.
“People have turned their backs on some fields and bananas grow, these fields are full of grass and when you pass you see these fields heavily infested. So we want to advise people if they want to take care of the abandoned fields the process is not to cut first but to inject the trees with 2-ml of pure Round Up liquid. The plant will get yellow after five days which is a sign of death,” she stated.
Another challenge for the management team is sourcing people to do the spraying of the fields. Abraham indicated that most of the people contracted to conduct the spraying also hold other jobs and therefore are unavailable at times.
My recommendation,,
short term …destroy abandoned fields, regular deleafing,ground spraying with effective fungicides,spray men to be properly trained,mistblowers properly calibrated, shorten spray cycles,spray early morning or late afternoon to avoid wind drift,avoid transport of infected leaf material, ..
I do not agree with the compost nutrition plan.. too slow..Better to put chemical fertiliser that will allow rapid leaf emergence, more leaf area for photosynthesis and bigger bunches.
I recommend to Min of Agriculture to read the Dupont publication that I prepared with Chiquita Dr Harry Stover some years ago.. and provided to PS and Mr Anselm.. titled Black & Yellow Sigatoka ..management techniques
Question ..Mr Anselm what recommendations did you glean from your attendance in Guadeloupe at the recently concluded June 24 – 27 International Black Sigatoka workshop I recommended to you..??Have any of the findings from the Workshop been discussed with farmers and implemented?
Longer term..I provided to the Min of Agriculture eleven cultivars/varieties of partially resistant bananas and plantains..The intention was to do field trials and select the best cultivars..for cooking and dessert/ripe bananas in Dominica conditions,and for local consumption and export…..,then mulitiply rapidly very large numbers of plantlets through meristem/tissue culture for distribution to farmers to replace/complement the current highly susceptible Cavendish cultivars..(Robusta,Giant Cavendish etc)
Ms Kamala Jno Baptiste expressed the view on her Kairi FM radio programme that since I was critical of the DLP government they would NOT talk to me and The Div of Agriculture did not supply me with timely reports on the Hillsborough plots where the eleven cultivars were being field tested..which was subsequently damaged by flood..
If there is interest the matter can be revisited when I get to Dominica on Sep 19..
We are stuck in a reactionary state of mind. That’s us that’s Dominica. A stitch in time saves lives. When I was spraying my Banana field there was no problem, but that ended and see what we have nothing but bad news and that`s just the beginning. Stay tuned!!!!
What about creating a a buffer zone along the road
or removing a few rows of Bananas along the roadside?Let the farmers box the plantain in the fields and stop hucksters from going from farm to farm for produce.
all i can say is that since the disease was identified i did not see one airplane doing any spraying in dominica… i guess they still in meetings planing or more concerned about running woman.
Back in the 1960’s & 70’s when there was a lot of banana cultivation for export banana fields were sprayed from the air using crop dusters I remember when one would come over from Guadeloupe to do the spraying and was based at Melville Hall during the spraying season. Why is that not done today?
The Ministry of Agriculture appears to be lacking leadership at the highest level. While the efforts of the technocrats at the Ministry should be applauded, they have been overwhelmed by the scale of the emerging plant diseases such as Black Sigatoka, Citrus Greening and Citrus Trestisia Virus. Its time for decisive action to rescue Agriculture.
that happen in all positions that skerrit appoint his incompetent croonies, they are clueless and play politics with our livelihood, we will be completely wiped out of bananas and plaintain by 2015..
Lack of persons to spray these crops ?????????
With all the unemployed on the island,recruit a task force and do a mass spray of the area,
What do you propose? Easy to criticize when behind the computer screen.
but what you all going to do next tell papa bondieu to stop the wind from blow. Too much money have been dipped into that black sigatoka issue , all they are doing with the money is put gas in the forestry vehicle, prepare and order snacks and lunch everytime they have a conference about BS and is so. Is there any chemical that has been administered to curb the spread of the virus. Persons well need these monies for housing and education.
I concur. They did not Nip it in the Bud. Now they are just wasting resources. Too late is the cry.
No carolta, no vision.
It is going to get worst with plagues in Dominica. We turn our backs on the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Doing what we want, when we want. No good government. Corruption in every walk of life including churches, which should b our stern foundation , what do we expect? Cursing – not blessing. We could jump high, jump low, but God’ s word must stand. We need to change our wicked ways. hurricane David, was suppose to b our wake up call. We have gone from bad to worse. God loves us, but he is also a God of wrath. Let us take heed.
What’s wrong with u people. Think b4 u speak. What u r saying is this is the work of god, definitely not the god I serve, no way emperor Selassie I will turn his back on his children.
U must be serving the devil because that is devil work.
Where is the leadership within the Ministry of Agriculture? Is he still crying? Farmers have no choice, but to cry with him till the change arrives.