THE less-studied but a major constraint in the production of banana called “banana bract mosaic disease” or BBrMD will now be explored through a three-year program.
It will be funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).
The program dubbed “Banana Bract Mosaic Disease in the Philippines: Geographic Distribution, Yield Loss Assessment, Virus Elimination, and Evaluation of Germplasm Collection” will be implemented by experts and researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
BBrMD is caused by the banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) that is more common in “saba” and “cardaba” bananas, but can also infect the “cavendish” variety in the country.
It causes mosaic patterns, discoloration, streaks on the different parts of banana plant – bract, pseudostem, and leaf, where severe infection may lead to failure of flowering and 40 to 70 percent yield reduction.
Despite its damaging impact to banana production, there is very limited information on the virus, its extent of infection, and control.
Up to this time, no synthetic chemicals and proper management practices are in place to control the disease, and there are also minimal BBrMV-free planting materials available to banana farmers.
Through the program, these gaps are expected to be addressed and eventually benefit the banana growers in the country.
It will have four component projects, which aim to detect and analyze genetic diversity of BBrMV, assess yield loss and nutrient management, eliminate virus and produce BBrMV-free planting materials, and study the sources and mechanism of resistance to BBrMD.
Incidence and distribution maps of BBrMV in the Philippines and information on genetic relationships of the virus isolates, alternative hosts, yield loss data on different banana cultivars, nutrient management regime for BBrMD mitigation, and BBrMV-resistant banana genotypes are some of the program’s target outputs.
Technologies such as protocols on BBrMV detection and elimination, and improved micropropagation of BBrMV-free saba are also expected to be developed.
BBrMV detection procedures that will be optimized by the program team can be used by banana tissue culture laboratories in detecting BBrMV in asymptomatic plants, which is expected to ensure that planting materials to be cultivated or disseminated are disease-free.
Ultimately, these new knowledge and technologies will assist plant breeders in developing BBrMD-resistant varieties.
The recently conducted online inception meeting served as a platform to launch the program that was attended by 13 participants from the UPLB and Crops Research Division of the DOST-PCAARRD, where the research and development (R&D) component of the program officially commenced under the leadership of Dr. Fe M. Dela Cueva of the UPLB Institute of Plant Breeding.
The DOST-PCAARRD’s Banana Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP) has been addressing R&D gaps on devastating banana diseases such as Fusarium wilt and banana bunchy top disease through generation of information and technologies on disease management.
With the threat of BBrMD infection, the conduct of R&D activities to study and manage the disease is being prioritized to prevent its widespread occurrence in the country./PN
