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    Tuesday, August 27, 2013

    FG Rallies as Disease Threatens Nigeria’s Plantain, Banana Production


    The federal government has begun to mobilise resources to tackle the recent onslaught of the virulent Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV), which is currently ravaging plantain and banana crops in Nigeria.
    The virus is threatening to knock the country off its number three position in Africa in the production of the crop, we learnt.

    Sources in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture hinted that the slow response of the department in the ministry responsible for intervention in the event of disease outbreak had put their senior officials under severe pressure from the management of the ministry.

    The Agriculture ministry is now setting up emergency committees and work groups to collaborate with relevant local and international research organisations to end the raid of the menacing plant disease.

    The outbreak of the disease was announced by researchers of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) two weeks ago, with a warning that farms in Nigeria, the second largest producer of the crop in the West Africa, were the hardest hit by the disease.

    “If not checked the virus will devastate plantain and banana farms, and jeopardise the livelihoods of millions of farmers who earn their livelihoods from the crop,” Lava Kumar, virologist at IITA said.

    The plantain and banana industry is worth over $100 billion globally, with more than 100 million tonnes of banana and plantain produced annually worldwide, according to FAO estimates. Banana is grown in nearly 130 countries. Uganda is the largest producer of banana and plantain in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), followed by Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroun.

    Head of the Post-Entry Quarantine, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Charles Onyeani, also warned against the movement of banana planting materials from infected areas to uninfected areas to check the spread of the disease.

    First discovered in 2012 by IITA in collaboration with the University of Ibadan and the NAQS, the disease is now widespread in Ilashe, Odan-Itoro, Ido-Ologun, and Igbogila, in Ogun State.

    “Systematic studies on yield losses have not been done but empirical observations indicate 50 per cent to 90 per cent loss in the affected region,” Kumar added, stressing “there is a severe shortage of clean planting material. Urgent management actions are required to prevent further spread and also help farmers in the affected areas.”

    Nigeria produces 2.74 million tonnes of banana annually, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), making the crop one of the important staples in the country.

    Devastation by BBTV on banana fields will have a negative impact on the country’s economy, and thwart efforts towards food security. Caused by a virus called, Banana Bunchy Top Virus, BBTV is a serious threat to banana in sub-Saharan Africa.

    The disease has been recognised in 14 countries in Africa; 13 of these are in sub-Saharan Africa which represents a combined banana production area of 2.28 million ha, contributing 19.75 million tonnes of fruit per annum (FAO 2011). The disease is known to occur in all the major banana production regions in DRC, Congo Brazzaville, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Zambia. Whereas, disease spread is limited to a few regions in Angola, Benin, Cameroun, and Nigeria.
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