Sustainability of banana-based agroecosystems affected by Xanthomonas wilt disease of banana

Banana (plantains inclusive) in addition to being an important food and income security for over 70 million people across the African Great Lakes region (AGLR), is an important source of several regulatory and supporting services that to date have receive little attention. The recent outbreak of Xanthomonas wilt disease (XW) of banana (first reported in 2001) has compromised food and income security of the households and communities in the banana-based agroecosystems. XW effects on other ecosystem services are not well known and could affect the sustainability of these agroecosystems. XW management has been mainly reactive and mitigative and the disease has as such persisted and continues to spread. Understanding of the risk factors at landscape and field/ farm level are thus crucial. This study explored strategies for preventing and minimising shocks caused by XW disease outbreaks and improving the adaptive and/or buffering capacity of banana-based agroecosystems. To achieve this, the study i) determined retrospectively the XW-driven land-use changes and trajectories across landscapes in eastern DR Congo, ii) potential effects XW and land-use changes on the supply of key ecosystem services, and iii) developed XW risk maps for the AGLR and banana producing zones across Africa. At farm/ field level, iv) field level risk factors including the role of intercrops and weeds in harbouring and perpetuating XW, and v) the effect of banana leaf pruning to integrate intercrops on the efficiency of the system as a basis for discouraging and/or improving the intercrop management were determined. Finally, vi) the study explored the opportunity of integrating shade and drought tolerant species within heavily shaded banana fields so as to increase biomass production without profoundly affecting performance of the banana crop. To retrospectively characterise land-use changes/ trajectories due to XW and to determine XW effects on ecosystem services, focus group discussions, a four-cell analysis, diagnosis of farmer fields and a review of available literature were conducted. The dominance of the banana declined across all XW affected landscapes with increases in importance of other crops, mainly annuals. Crop diversity increased at household level but not at field level. XW was observed to also reduce the supply of supporting and regulatory ecosystem services. These findings suggest a need for an ecosystem services broad framework for addressing XW and other diseases of banana and other crops. At landscape level, XW incidence and a range of covariates were used to develop spatial spread maps of XW disease. XW increased with increasing precipitation and declining investment in disease and crop management. The spatial XW spread map highlights XW hotspots, front lines (e.g. eastern DR Congo) and the vulnerable landscapes with low (e.g. north-western Tanzania) or no XW (northern Mozambique). The eastern DR Congo, a zone where the plantains (Musa AAB) and the East African highland bananas (Musa AAA) meet was a major hotspot and is thus a potential gateway for XW to spread into the plantain belt of Central and West Africa. These maps are a good starting point for guiding proactive strategies for XW prevention, eradication and control. To elucidate the field/ farm level risk factors of XW a combination of laboratory and screenhouse experiments and a farm diagnostic study were used. Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum the causal organism of XW was observed to survive within some banana intercrops (e.g. maize, millet, sorghum, sugarcane) and weeds (Canna spp. and wild sorghum), with XW characteristic symptoms on millet, sorghum and Canna spp. Insect spread while collecting nectar, sap and pollen, plant to plant spread through the rhizome are important for XW perpetuation whereas the pathogen does not survive for long in absence of a living host. Thus the risk from the annual crops was rated zero to low, from sugarcane (perennial and propagates through the stem and rhizome) as low-moderate and from Canna spp. (propagates through the rhizome, highly susceptible and prevalent on farms) as moderate to high. Field diagnostic studies only showed a 0.02% disease incidence in Canna spp. XW risk on farm was instead lowered by growing banana cultivar mixtures and increasing access to information on disease epidemiology and management; and increased by the presence of the highly susceptible ABB banana types. Though Canna spp. has no association with the observed XW risk on farm it warrants close monitoring. The impact of cultivar mixtures on XW is novel and needs to be further investigated and integrated into the current XW management package. At field level, farmers prune banana leaves to increase light intercepted by the shorter crops. This practice currently enhances XW spread. Field experiments and a bio-economic optimisation model (FarmDESIGN) were used to explore the impact of these practices on the performance of the system. The model was also used to explore different external input (hedges, inorganic fertilizers and organic manure) scenarios for the system. Severe leaf pruning (to 4 leaves) was inefficient both agronomically and economically. Mild pruning (7 leaves) however improved the agronomic efficiency whereas unpruned banana (as intercrop or sole crop) was more efficient economically. Moderate leaf pruning to integrate legumes and not pruning at all could thus be considered as a trade-off between agronomic and economic efficiency for the banana-legume intercrop system. Trade-offs occurred between nitrogen input (minimized) and operating profit, soil organic matter balance and protein yield that were maximised. Profound improvements for all the above objectives only occurred with addition of external inputs, especially inorganic fertilizers and manure. For example, for the no or low input scenario(s), the model predominantly allocated land to severely pruned banana-legume intercrop and bush bean monocrop. In contrast, with addition of external inputs, the model allocated land to the more profitable options i.e. unpruned banana either as a sole crop or intercrop with legumes. Discouraging severe leaf pruning and improving the performance of the system for all objectives will necessitate investments in external inputs. These findings are a good basis for co-innovating the system for better performance. The FarmDESIGN model is thus useful for supporting field level explorations, decision making and overall co-designing of the banana agroecosystems. Available literature was also reviewed to identify potential shade and drought tolerant species for integration into heavily shaded banana fields. Integration of such species within the banana fields will increase overall biomass yield, minimise XW spread through leaf pruning and improve the overall performance of the system. This study thus shows XW to still be an important threat across landscapes in the AGLR and to both indirectly and directly affect the supply of a broad range of ecosystem services. Adopting proactive and holistic measures taking to account the broader range of ecosystems services is crucial at farm and landscape level for managing the disease. At field level, understanding the risk factors including crop management practices, and the role of other plant species in a system is important. This study also proposes agroecological practices (e.g. such as cover crops, hedges, crop cultivar mixtures) for improving the buffering and adaptive capacity of the banana-based agroecosystems.</p

Community training manual on macro-propagation using detached corms

Within the framework of a Bioversity International project titled “Addressing micronutrient deficiencies in sub –Saharan Africa through Musa – based foods”, banana varieties rich in vitamin A originally from outside East and Central Africa were introduced in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To increase the availability and quality of planting material in communities, training on macro-propagation using detached corms was conducted in project sites. This manual uses a training of trainer approach to cover the different actions and processes required to successfully multiply banana planting materials using a range of available materials

Farmer friendly options for sterilizing farm tools for the control of Xanthomonas Wilt disease of banana

The adoption of tool sterilization using either 3.5% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) or fire, a core element of the cultural control packages for Xanthomonas wilt (XW) of banana has been poorly adopted hampering XW control in East and Central Africa. Household bleach is costly and not accessible to the rural poor while repeated heating weakens metal blades of garden tools (machetes, knives, and hoes). Identification of economically viable tool sterilization options is thus crucial for XW management. We explored a range of practices including tool insertion for varying time periods into cold and hot ash, fire and boiling water; tool exposure over varying time periods to the sun while under black or transparent plastic sheets; and washing tools with cold water and laundry soap or detergent. Cleaning with household bleach served as a negative control while uncleaned tools as positive control. Like for household bleach, no Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum (Xvm) the causal agent of XW was recovered from tools washed with cold water and different laundry soaps or detergents. Culturing Xvm in varying detergent and soap concentrations (0.00125–0.035 g/mL), only resulted in growth at lower concentrations of 0.00125 and 0.0025 g/mL. The cleaning effect of soap could thus be due to both an anti-bacterial effect and dislodgment of bacteria from tools. Laundry soaps/detergents are cheaper than household bleach and used for various purposes within and across households, including the resource poor and rural households, hence a cheaper and convenient tool sterilization alternative. Tool insertion into boiling water was effective from the 40th second and thus a viable alternative. Heating tools in fire required up to a minute to clear all bacteria. The currently recommended 20–40 s heating could thus be inadequate. Repeated heating for 1 min may also damage tools. Other practices (washing with cold water only, use of solar radiation, repeatedly and forcefully inserting tools into the soil, tool insertion into hot and cold ash for up to 5 min) only reduced Xvm populations on tools, thus not independently recommended. We recommend expanding the tool sterilization options to include washing with soap/ detergents and tool insertion into boiling water for at least 1 min

Can the timely removal of outer symptomatic leaves of enset plants following a tool-mediated infection with Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum lead to recovery?

Xanthomonas wilt (XW) of enset is a major biotic constraint to enset cultivation in Ethiopia. Three enset cultivars, namely, ‘Mazia’ (tolerant), ‘Arkiya’ (susceptible) and ‘Kelisa’ (susceptible) were inoculated with Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum (Xvm), the causal agent of XW at Hosanna (2,177 m a.s.l.) in Southern Ethiopia. The treatments included inoculation of one or three outer leaves, and subsequent removal or non-removal of symptomatic leaves and leaf sheaths. This study explored the potential effect of singly removing symptomatic outer enset leaves on the recovery of enset plants from XW disease. Removal of symptomatic outer leaves was postulated to remove a large percentage of inoculum from a plant, thus preventing further symptom development on more inner/adjacent/younger leaves, eventually leading to the recovery of infected enset plants. The ‘Mazia’ enset cultivar was tolerant as it recovered fully irrespective of the number of leaves inoculated and whether single symptomatic leaves were removed or not. Singly removing symptomatic leaves in this tolerant enset cultivar however significantly hastened the recovery of the plants by approximately two months. This practice could thus be promoted for hastening the recovery of tolerant enset cultivars. For the susceptible cultivars ‘Arkiya’ and ‘Kelisa’, leaf removal only improved recovery when single leaves were inoculated. However, infection levels still remained high by the close of the experiment, suggesting that the practice may not be suitable in the susceptible cultivars. This study was conducted on young enset plants; cutting symptomatic leaves on susceptible but more mature plants could be explored. For the tolerant cultivars, the practice needs validation through studies on a wider range of cultivars

Banana bunchy top disease in Africa – Predicting continent‐wide disease risks by combining survey data and expert knowledge

Across Africa, banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) severely impacts banana production and livelihoods of millions of small-holder farmers. Mapping vulnerability of landscapes to monitor BBTD establishment and spread is crucial for proactive measures of disease exclusion. To highlight current and future risks of BBTD in Africa, using logistic regression, the relationship between 1160 field-observations from 14 BBTD surveys and environmental covariate maps was determined. Using these relationships, we inferred the environmental suitability of the possible wider spread of BBTD within the African landscape. Based on environmental suitability and expert knowledge, we then generated a map highlighting main banana production areas at risk of BBTD entry and establishment. We combined these maps to create a priority map that highlights the areas that need most attention in combating BBTD through surveillance and measures to prevent its spread. Our analysis shows that BBTD is widespread across tropical Africa, with dispersal over several hotspots. Central and Western Africa are most favorable for development of BBTD. Central, West and South-East Africa are most at risk of BBTD entry and initial establishment. Areas in West and Central Africa, in the Great Lakes Region in Eastern Africa and in South-East Africa, particularly in Malawi and Mozambique, score high on the prioritization index for surveillance and mitigation efforts. Recent reports of BBTD presence in northwestern Uganda and western Tanzania support these risk predictions. For these and other not yet infected areas, measures for close surveillance and to proactively manage the disease are needed

Xanthomonas wilt of banana: Training manual

Module 1: What causes Xanthomonas wilt disease and how to recognize it Module 2: How to prevent Xanthomonas wilt Module 3: Which actions to take to control Xanthomonas wilt when it is detected on a farm Module 4: Xanthomonas wilt management in practice: avoiding common pitfall