This document summarizes research on banana biodiversity and biosecurity in West Timor, Indonesia. It finds that while banana shows high biodiversity in the region, with many varieties and cultivars, it remains prone to biosecurity incursions from pests and diseases. A survey identified several key banana pests and pathogens present. While diversity can help provide resilience, large-scale monocropping and lack of strong biosecurity policies have allowed highly virulent diseases to spread. Protecting banana biodiversity and biosecurity is important for food security and livelihoods in the dry regions where banana is a staple crop. Lessons highlight the need for coordinated biosecurity action to prevent devastating impacts seen elsewhere.
Biodiverse, yet remains prone to biosecurity incursion: The case of banana in West Timor, Indonesia
1. Biodiverse, yet remains prone to
biosecurity incursion:
The case of banana in West Timor,
Indonesia
I Wayan Mudita1), Mangadas Lumban Gaol2), Jenny E.R. Markus3), Remi L. Natonis4),
Don H. Kadja3), and Julinda B.D. Henuk3)
1) Corresponding author, Faculty of Agriculture, Nusa Cendana University, Jl. Adisucipto, Penfui, Kota Kupang, East Nusa
Tenggara, Indonesia, email: iwayanmudita@staf.undana.ac.id
2) Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Nusa Cendana University, Kota Kupang, ENT, Indonesia
3) Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Nusa Cendana University, Kota Kupang, ENT, Indonesia
4) East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Agricultural Department, Kota Kupang, ENT, Indonesia
2. Genus Musa separated from 2 related
genera, Ensete and Musella, around 39
MYA and evolved into 2 clads and 5
sections :
(1) Eumusa, (2) Rhodochlamys, (3)
Callimusa, (4) Australimusa, and (5)
Ingentimusa
Source: De Langhe et al. (2009)
Source: Janssens et al. (2015)
Evolusion of genus Musa (banana sensu lato)
3. Evolution Musa acuminata and
Musa balbisiana: progenitors of
cultivated banana
Source: Janssens et al. (2015)
Source: Janssens et al. (2015)
Source: De Langhe et al. (2009)
4. Domestication and spread of banana
Cultivated banana is neither Musa paradisiaca nor Musa sapientum, but
polyploidies or crossbreds of Musa acuminata (A) and Musa balbisiana (B)
5. How diverse is banana species?
• Genus Musa consists of Section Eumusa, Rhodochlamys,
Callimusa, Australimusa, and Ingentimusa
• The number of accepted species sensu Häkkinen (2013) for
each section of Musa: Eumusa=20, Rhodochlamys=13,
Callimusa=37, Australimusa=12, Ingentimusa=1, total 70
species
• Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana belong to section
Eumusa
• Musa acuminata consist of 12 subspecies or so, but the
important one: M. acuminata subsp. banksii, M. acuminata
subsp. burmanica, M. M. acuminata subsp. errans, M.
acuminata subsp. malaccensis, M. acuminata subsp.
microcarpa, M. acuminata subsp. siamea, M. acuminata
subsp. truncata, and M. acuminata subsp. zebrina.
• Musa balbisiana consists of three varieties: M. balbisiana
var. andamica, M. balbisiana var. balbisiana, and M.
balbisiana var. brachycarpa
• Most cultivated banana belong to genome groups AA, AAA,
AAB, and ABB. Each genome group consists of several
cultivars, and each cultivar of several landraces. Some
cultivars may be grouped into sub-genome group or
cultivar group. The number of banana cultivars is very
large, meaning that cultivated banana is highly biodiverse
6. How diverse is cultivated banana (banana accessions and cultivars)?
• Promusa
http://www.promusa.org/tiki-
index.php?&page=Banana+cultivar+ch
ecklist&trackerId=15&tr_offset1=7000
lists more than 7000 banana
accessions and cultivars worldwide
• MGIS https://www.crop-
diversity.org/mgis/ lists global banana
accessions and cultivars as follows
AA=846, AAA=1189, AAAA=61, AB=65,
AAB=1287, AAA/AAB=9, AAAB=120,
BB=4, BBB=33, ABB=401, AABB=19,
ABB/BBB=1, ABBB=5
• No list is available for Indonesian
banana accessions and cultivars.
Names of Indonesian banana
accessions or cultivar can be found
either at Promusa or MGIS, but with
incomplete descriptors
7. How prone is banana to biosecurity incursion:
What is biosecurity? What is biosecurity incursion?
• Biosecurity: approach, policy, and
actions needed to secure life from
hazardous pests, pathogens, and
weeds (including invasive species)
threatening along the continuum of
pre-border, border, and post-border
• Agrobiosecurity: biosecurity
implemented within the sector of
agriculture (includes crop biosecurity,
farm animal biosecurity, farm-gate
biosecurity)
• Biosecurity incursion: entry and
spread hazardous pests, pathogen,
and weeds (including invasive
species) into a predefined area or
region.
8. • What are pests and pathogens
that threaten banana biosecurity
in ENT?
• How diverse is banana in ENT?
• How does banana biosecurity
relate to banana biodiversity?
• What implications do this banana
biodiversity-biosecurity
relationship have?
• How to engage stakeholders to be
aware of the resulting
implications?
• What we should learn from the
resulting implications and
engagement?
How prone is banana in ENT to biosecurity
incursion?
9. Banana Biodiversity and
Biosecurity Survey in ENT
• We carried out a survey was in
sample districts in Flores, Sumba,
and West Timor in 2017
• In each island, we select a number of
banana centres of production as
sample locations:
• Flores in West Manggarai and
Sikka districts
• Sumba in all districts
• West Timor in all districts
• In each sample location, we
observed banana mats to collect
banana descriptor data and to assess
pest damage, disease symptoms, and
pathogen signs and took samples for
further laboratory tests
10. Banana: AA and AAA
Mas (Sucrier)(AA) Dili (AA) Barangan Kuning (AA) Barangan Merah (AA)
Masam(AA/AAA) Dwarf Cavendish (AAA)
Aceh (AAA) Ambon Hijau (AAA)
Ambon Kuning (AAA)
11. Banana: AAB
Luan Merah (AAB) Luan Putih (AAB) Susu (AAB)
Raja Bulu (AAB)
Raja Hijau (AAB) Raja from Baun (AAB)
Tembaga Putih (AAB) Tembaga Merah (AAB)
16. Diverse, but why prone to pest and disease incursion?
• Several pests and pathogens,
each specialise to a particular set
of banana accessions or cultivars
• Only one cultivar is cultivated in a
large region, e.g. Gross Michele in
Central America (destroyed by
Fusarium wilt) and Cavendish in
Fiji and then also in Central
America and South America
(destroyed by Sigatoka disease
complex)
• Emergence and spread of virulent
pathogen races (e.g. Fusarium
oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical
Race 4)
• Lack of appropriate biosecurity
policy and measures
17. Implications to Banana industry in Drylands:
Why does securing banana from pests and diseases matter?
• Agriculture is an important industry in ENT on which the life and
livelihoods of local people and the economy of the province depends on
• Agriculture in ENT experiences a long dry season every year during which
banana becomes weak and predisposed to some diseases, e.g. to Sigatoka
disease complex
• ENT often experiences drought during which annual crops such as rice,
maize, soybean, shallot, and chilies (the PAJALE BABE) may fail and banana
as a perennial crop survive to serve as an alternative staple food and a
source of cash income
• Banana pseudo-stem is an important source of water for cattle and other
domestic animals during the dry season
• Banana bells (male flowers) and leaves are sold in the local markets as an
important additional source of cash income for those living nearby towns
and cities
• Without an appropriate biosecurity policy and action, BDB can cause
severe crop loss (up to 80%)
18. Lessons learnt
• Biodiverse does not necessarily always mean biosecure because in
case of banana, its pests and diseases also biodiverse and cultivated
banana originated from two parental species, making its genetic
building block relatively similar
• Pests and diseases of banana become explosive and destructive
outside of banana centre of origin where banana is grown as a
monoculture in a large area with high agrochemical inputs, forcing
the pathogens to develop more virulent races that are capable of
destroying banana in its centre of origin, e.g. Fusarium oxysporum
f.sp. cubense TR4
• Failure to impose a proper biosecurity policies and actions have
brought locally important crops such as mandarin and apple in the
highlands of West Timor to the brink of extinction and therefore we
need to act accordingly to prevent the same thing from happening
again to banana
19. Selected References
Drenth, A.; Mudita, I W.; Ray, J.; & Subandiyah, S. (2019). Blood disease of banana: diagnostics
and distribution in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. Final Report. Canbera: Plant Biosecurity
Cooperative Research Centre.
De Langhe, E. (2009). Relevance of banana seeds in archaeology. Ethnobotany Research &
Applications, 7, 271–281
Häkkinen, M. (2013). Reappraisal of sectional taxonomy in Musa (Musaceae). Taxon, 62(4), 809–
813. https://doi.org/10.12705/624.3
Janssens, S.B., Vandelook, F., De Langhe, E., Verstraete, B., Smets, E., Vandenhouwe, I., &
Swennen, R. (2016). Evolutionary dynamics and biogeography of Musaceae reveal a
correlation between the diversification of the banana family and the geological and
climatic history of Southeast Asia. New Phytologist, 210(4), 1453–1465.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13856
Mudita, I W.; Gaol, M.L.; & Natonis, R.L. (2017). Pengembangan Sistem Pertukaran Data,
Informasi, dan Pengetahuan Mengenai Keanekaragaman dan Ketahanan Hayati Tanaman
Pisang di Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur. Laporan Penelitian DIPA BAUK Undana Tahun 2017.
Kupang: Universitas Nusa Cendana
Ray, J.; Rincon-Florez, V.; Mudita, I W.; Markus, J.E.R.; Subandiyah, S.; O'Dwyer, C.; Drenth, A.
2018. Dispersal of banana blood disease in Southeast Asia. Presented at International
Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP) 2018: Plant Health in A Global Economy held in Boston,
USA, 29 July-3 August 2018. Available from:
https://apsnet.confex.com/apsnet/ICPP2018/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/9932
20. Thank you
Presented at the International Conference and Exhibition on Science and Technology (ICEST) held by the Faculty
of Science Engineering in Labuhan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, on 26-27 October 2018.
For further information, please contact the corresponding author
