Pesticides in Banana Culture NORWOOD C. T H O R N T O N
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Division of Tropical Research, United Fruit Co., La Lima, Honduras
Insects and diseases caused by fungi and bacteria bring about widespread losses in banana culture by reducing production, depreciating market value of the fruit, and even destroying the industry. Thousands of tons of fungicides and hundreds of tons of insecticides are required yearly to control banana pests. New pesticides, better formulations, and improvement of existing pesticides are needed. Specific banana pests and the possibility of their control are discussed. Intensive culture of bananas, as with many other crops, is beset with many problems. E v e n in isolated plantings, pests of one kind or another reduce the potential crop or even destroy it entirely. In the majority of cases pest control has been confined to large acreages in more intensified banana culture. M a n y factors have contributed to retarding the use of pest control, such as weather and ground conditions that prevent the use of portable equipment without expensive road systems, small plantations, lack of finances, indifference on the part of grower, and no local demand for quality f r u i t . Bananas are grown in every tropical country and some subtropical areas throughout the world. The total acreage involved is considerable when all plantings, from 1 acre upward, are taken into consideration. Pest control is largely confined to the Caribbean area, Central and South A m e r i c a , A u s t r a l i a , and to some extent the Cameroons, L i b e r i a , and Israel. Other areas in most cases grow bananas for local consumption, where strict demand for economic production and quality f r u i t is not recognized. B a n a n a pests have developed with the crop in the old world and spread with it to new lands. Root and leaf diseases and insect pests first observed in the Indian Ocean countries and the Pacific Islands spread to the Caribbean area and then to the Cameroons. A s is true in most cases of pest dissemination, man has been the culprit, though innocent in his ignorance. These pests were readily spread in his eagerness to develop plantations of the new f r u i t for foreign markets early in the twentieth century. T h e important pests may be separated into plant diseases and insects. Also there are other minor pest problems resulting f r o m local cultural or environmental conditions. Grass and weed growth in banana plantations and r a i l road rights of way, weeds and bush in livestock pastures, ticks, flies, mosquitoes, termites, powder post beetles, weevils, leaf-cutting ants, and rodents are probably the most important of the minor pests. Diseases of Banana Plants and Fruit Table I lists the diseases of the banana by common name, scientific name, and parts of the plant attacked. The diseases are discussed under their common and most recognized name in the industry. Panama wilt, first observed in 1890, developed to epidemic proportions in Panama in 1903. Today it is widespread in most all banana-producing areas where the susceptible varieties of commerce are grown. In fact, it is the limiting factor in the commercial production of bananas in Central A m e r i c a . In Honduras alone approximately 4000 acres are lost from production yearly because of this pathogen. W i t h the discovery of flood fallowing in 1938 it has been possible to reclaim some 71
PESTICIDES IN TROPICAL AGRICULTURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1955.
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A D V A N C E S IN CHEMISTRY SERIES
Downloaded by UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA on June 26, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1955 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1955-0013.ch010
of these infested soils. C u r r e n t l y the flood procedure is expensive a n d it must be repeated every 6 to 8 years. Efficiency of this procedure could be increased i f methods could be found to reduce spore carry-over i n the flood water and on the surface of flooded soil. Fungicide treatment of the water is not feasible because of the volume involved. Fungicide treatment of the surface soil, however, immediately after flooding m a y be practical because depth of penetration is not required. M a n y fungicides have been tested, but only a few such as C r a g 974 (copper zinc chromate) and Dithane D-14 [disodium salt of ethylenebis(dithiocarbamic a c i d ) ] show promise of economic control. T h e need is for a soil fungicide h a v i n g high residual effectiveness or an economic water treatment to k i l l the organism surviving i n the water or on the soil surface. Table I. Common
Name
Panama Moko Sigatoka Heart rot Cigar-end Sooty mold Stem-end rot Colombia stem-end rot Bunchy-top
Diseases of the Banana
Scientific
Name
Fusarium oxysporum f. cubense (Syn. & Hans.) P8eudomona3 solamacearum E F S Cercospora musae Z i m m . (myco8pkaereUa musicola) Fusarium moniUforme Sheld. and bacteria Stachylidium theobromae Turc. Capnodium species Thielaviopsis paradoxa ( D e Seynes) Von Horn Gloeosporium muearum Cke. & Massee V i r u s (Pentalonia nigronervosa Coq., a p h i d vector)
Parts
Attacked
V a s c u l a r system V a s c u l a r system Leaves Young plant
Growing fruit Growing fruit Ripening fruit Ripening fruit Growing plant (Pacific area
