A hemisphere against Fusarium

• Musaceae wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f sp. cubense, tropical race 4 called Foc R4T, is a very aggressive disease for export banana, currently present in three (3) Latin American countries (Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela).
• The official report of the disease's arrival in Colombia was given in August 2019 in the municipalities of Dibulla and Riohacha, department of La Guajira, and later some affected farms were identified in the banana-growing zone of Magdalena. Currently, the disease has been registered in 17 farms in Colombia on which strict quarantine control is maintained, achieving the containment of the problem in the Caribbean zone.

 

Bogotá, Capital District. May 18, 2023. Fusarium wilt, particularly caused by Tropical Race 4, is currently considered one of the most devastating diseases for banana and plantain cultivation worldwide. In fact, it is considered one of the ten most important plant diseases in the history of humanity. Since its registration in the American continent, multiple alerts have been generated so that Musaceae producers embrace technical and cultural measures that prevent disease entry into their production systems.

In this sense, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria – AGROSAVIA and research institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean (Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia), along with national representatives of ICA, EAFIT, and Cenibanano, and with the sponsorship of FONTAGRO, IDB Invest, and IAEA have been carrying out prevention and management actions that allow overcoming the technological gap for the prevention and management of the disease, since, to date, there is no effective control against the Foc R4T. Research and technological development are essential to avoid economic losses in crops in a region where banana and plantain production is a strategic line in the countries' peasant economy and food security.

Mónica Betancourt Vásquez, Ph.D. Associate of AGROSAVIA indicated that the experience of Colombia in recent years should help other countries prepare for the prevention, containment, and management of the disease. For this reason, multiple activities are being developed to train research teams from different countries. AGROSAVIA's research agenda highlights the progress in the molecular diagnosis of the pathogen through advanced methodologies such as digital PCR and complete genome sequencing with nanopore technology, the successful introduction into the country of promising materials due to their resistance to Foc R4T from CIRAD and Embrapa's breeding programs, progress in the integrated management of the disease based on the determination of risk zones for the presence of the disease in Colombia, soil predisposing factors for the disease and the use of biological controllers based on Trichoderma spp. and Bacillus subtilis.

 

Shared experiences

Representatives of the research institutions of the nine countries that are part of the project Strengthening the capacities for the prevention and management of the Fusarium wilt of Musaceae in Latin America and the Caribbean, financed by FONTAGRO, met from May 9 to 12, 2023, at the Tibaitatá Research Center of AGROSAVIA.

The reason for the meeting was the Regional Workshop: "Diagnosis, Containment, and Management of the Tropical Race Fusarium Wilt. The Experience of Affected Countries: lessons to be Learned and Challenges for the Region," whose objective was to know first-hand the current state of the countries affected by the Foc R4T and diagnostic, containment, prevention, and management actions. Likewise, the scenario allowed updating the knowledge of the technical personnel for the recognition of the symptoms; methodologies for the evaluation of resistance in Musaceae genotypes and the development of tests for the assessment of biological controllers; dissemination of research progress at the regional level, trends, and phytosanitary challenges; and, based on this scenario, establish collaboration links between research centers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Francisco Fitoria from Instituto Nicaraguense de Tecnología Agropecuaria – INTA mentioned, "This type of activity is essential because it allows countries to standardize all activities and control and containment plans not only for this disease –which is very important for Musaceae– but for a number of other diseases."

For her part, Carmen Bieberach, Researcher at Instituto de Innovación Agropecuaria de Panamá, considers "It is important to know the experience of the countries where the disease is already present to establish our own management and prevention strategies of the disease and also to know the diagnosis and management protocols for plantations that have already been developed in other countries such as Colombia and Peru that are making progress on the issue."

Juan Carlos Rojas, Researcher at Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria – INIA of Peru, highlighted, "In Peru, Fusarium Foc R4T is critical because, let us not forget that we are the second country that tested positive for R4T after Colombia, alerting us of the risk posed over the 165,000 hectares of Musaceae that we have in Peru. Although it is true that currently, the focus of the R4T is on the North Coast, with 10,000 hectares for export, the greatest risk is that this fungus will spread to the organic banana production areas because this crop is part of the food security of rural families."

 

Progress in research in the Banana Congress

Within the framework of the Banana Congress to be held on May 18 and 19 in Santa Marta, AGROSAVIA will show progress in research against Fusarium R4T based on the work carried out at the Tibaitatá, Caribia, and Palmira Research Centers.

Among the progress, the dispersion model of Foc R4T stands out, based on the conditions of predisposing factors of the soil and climatic variants; the introduction of materials resistant to the disease from CIRAD and the Vitropic breeding program in France, among which the materials with Cavendish ancestry stand out: Ruby and Lothar 4- and the traditional banana materials: FLHORBAN 924, FHLORBAN 931, and FHLORBAN 938. These materials were tested for their resistance under the conditions of La Guajira, finding that the last three are highly resistant to the pathogen under controlled nursery conditions, and the Cavendish-type materials are tolerant. Likewise, progress will be shown in the genomics of the pathogen and the epidemiology studies that AGROSAVIA develops together with ICA and the productive associations that support this work. All the resistance tests are carried out under the supervision of ICA and with the support of Asbama and Agrovid.

In addition, around 50 Embrapa materials have been introduced in a joint genetic pre-breeding strategy with Embrapa and Augura to obtain materials with resistance to Foc R4T from crosses with Cavendish. There is a 5-hectare crossbreeding plot in Palmira where 18 Embrapa materials have been established, including improved diploids that facilitate the genetic improvement process.

In recent months, AGROSAVIA has been working on four axes: Genomic approaches, epidemiology, management, and genetic breeding, and has a research team of at least 35 researchers involved in the different lines of work.