This document outlines various banana diseases, including symptoms, survival, spread, and favorable conditions for diseases such as Panama wilt, anthracnose, and banana bunchy top virus. It also covers integrated pest management strategies, crop maintenance practices, and insecticide and fungicide treatments to manage these diseases effectively. The document emphasizes the importance of using disease-free planting materials and regularly scouting for signs of disease in banana crops.

1. Submitted By:
Om Prakash Barik (201222217)
1st
Yr. MSc. Ag. (Plant Pathology)
College Of Agriculture, OUAT, BBSR
(Pl. Path 508) (2+1)
Assignment Topic:
Submitted To:
Dr. Akshaya Kumar Senapati
Dr. (Mrs.) Gayatri Biswal
Professor, Dept. of Plant Pathology
College Of Agriculture, OUAT, BBSR

2. CONTENTS
1. Panama wilt
2. Mycosphaerella leaf spot, yellow sigatoka, black sigatoka
3. Anthracnose
4. Moko disease/bacterial wilt
5. Tip over or bacterial soft rot
6. Bunchy top/curly top
7. Banana bract mosaic virus (BBMV)
8. Banana streak disease (BSV)
9. Infectious chlorosis (CMV)
10. IPM for Banana

3. PANAMA WILT
Disease symptoms
• Yellowing of the lower most leaves starting from margin to midrib of the leaves
• Yellowing extends upwards and finally heart leaf alone remains green for some time
and it is also affected.
• The leaves break near the base and hang down around pseudostem.
• Longitudinal splitting of pseudostem. Discolouration of vascular vessels as red or
brown streaks.
Survival and spread
• The pathogen spreads through
infected rhizomes
Favourable conditions
• Continuous cultivation in the
infested field or monocroping results in buildup of inoculum
MYCOSPHAERELLA LEAF SPOT, YELLOW
SIGATOKA, BLACK SIGATOKA
Disease symptoms
• Early symptoms appear on the third or fourth leaf from the top, i.e., on young leaves.
• Small spindle shaped spots on foliage with greyish centre and yellowish halo running
parallel to veins.
• If the fruit is nearing maturity
at the time of heavy infection,
the flesh ripens but evenly and
individual bananas appear
undersized and their flesh
develops a buff pinkish colour,
and store poorly.

4. Survival and spread
• The conidia of the fungus are carried by wind ,rain water and old dried infected
leaves and they help to spread the disease
ANTHRACNOSE
Disease symptoms
• At the initial stage, small, circular, black spots develop on the affected fruits. Then
these spots enlarge in size, turn to brown colour
• The skin of the fruit turns black and shrivels and becomes covered with characteristic
pink acervuli. Finally the whole finger is affected. Later the disease spreads and
affects the whole bunch.
• The disease results in premature ripening and shriveling of the fruits which are
covered with pink spore masses.
• Occurrence if black lesions on the pedicel causes withering of the pedicel and
dropping of the fingers from the hands
• Sometimes the main stalk of the bunch may become diseased. Infected fruits
become black and rotten
Survival and spread
• The spread of the disease is by air-borne conidia and numerous insects which
frequently visit banana flowers also spread the disease
Favourable conditions
• The disease is favoured by high atmospheric temperature and humidity, wounds and
brusies caused in the fruit and susceptibility of the variety

5. MOKO DISEASE/BACTERIAL WILT
Disease symptoms
• Leaves become yellow and progress upwards. The petiole breaks and leaves hang.
• When it is cut open discolouration in vascular region with pale yellow to dark brown
colour.
• The discolouration is in the central portion of the corm.
• Internal rot of fruits with dark brown discoloration.
• When the pseudostem is cut transversely bacterial ooze can be seen.
Survival and spread
• The bacterium survives in infected
plant material, vegetative propagative
organs, wild host plants, and soil.
Favourable conditions
• High temperatures and high soil moisture generally favors disease
TIP OVER OR BACTERIAL SOFT ROT
Disease symptoms
• This disease is more pronounced on young suckers leading to rotting and emitting of
foul odour
• Roting of collar region is a
commonest symptom followed by
epinasty of leaves, which dry out
suddenly
• If affected plants are pulled out it
comes out from the collar region
leaving the corm with their roots in
the soil

6. • In early stage of infection dark brown or yellow water soaked areas are more in the
cortex area When affected plants are cut open at collar region yellowish to reddish
ooze is seen.
Survival and spread
• Bacteria survive in crop debris and infect by water splash through damaged tissues.
• Worse in hot wet weather. The bacteria spread in contaminated water.
Favourable conditions
• Higher temperatures and high humidity are ideal growing conditions for the bacteria
BUNCHY TOP/CURLY TOP
Disease symptoms
• Prominent dark green streaks on the petioles and midrib along the leaf veins.
• Marginal chlorosis and curling of leaves
• Petioles fail to elongate
• Leaves are reduced in size, chlorotic, stand upright and become brittle and are
crowded at the top (Bunchy top) and shoe dark green streaks with ‘J hook’ shape
near the midrib.
• Flowers display mottled and streaked
discolouration
• Plants show marked stunting
Survival and spread
• Vector: banana aphid, Pentalonia
nigronervosa
• The disease can be spread by infected
plant debris, plant wounds and injuries.
Favourable conditions
• Hot and damp weather with plenty of rainfall trigger the disease to occur.

7. BANANA BRACT MOSAIC VIRUS (BBMV)
Disease symptoms
• The disease is characterized by the presence of spindle shaped pinkish to reddish
streaks on pseudostem, midrib and peduncle
• Typical mosaic and spindle shaped mild mosaic streaks on bracts, peduncle and
fingers also observed
• Suckers exhibit unusual reddish brown streaks at emergence and separation of leaf
sheath from central axis
• Clustering of leaves at crown with a travelers palm appearance, elongated peduncle
and half filled hands are its characteristic symptom.
Survival and spread
• The disease is caused by a virus
belonging to potyvirus group. The
virions are flexuous filamentous
• The virus is transmitted through
aphid vectors such as Aphis
gosypii, Pentolonia nigronervosa
and Rhopalosiphum maidis. In field the disease spread mainly through suckers
BANANA STREAK DISEASE (BSV)
Disease symptoms
• A prominent symptom exhibited by
BSV is yellow streaking of the
leaves, which becomes
progressively necrotic producing a
black streaked appearance in older
leaves.

8. Survival and spread
• The virus is transmitted mostly through infected planting materials, though mealy
bugs (Planococcus citri) and more probably Saccharicoccus sacchari are also
believed to transmit it. Shoot tip culture does not eliminate it from vegetatively
propagated materials.
INFECTIOUS CHLOROSIS (CMV)
Disease symptoms
• The disease manifests itself in all stages of crop
growth.
• Due to repeated use of suckers from infected plants
the disease spreads and resulting in the gradual
decrease in yield and quality.
• The disease is known to occur in all banana-growing
states.
• Light yellow streaks run parallel to leaf veins giving
the leaf a striped appearance.
• The streaks run usually from mid rib to edge of the
blade.
Survival and spread
• Virus is disseminated by suckers and Aphis gossypi.

9. IDM OF BANANA
Cleaning An Old Banana Field For New Crop Planting
1. Inject infected banana plants with bananacide to kill BBTV and nematodes. This will
remove the sources of inoculum for both pathogens for the next crop’s planting. Killing
nematode-infected plants with bananacide was demonstrated to improve the potential of
the successive fallow practice to reduce nematode infestation without nematicides
(Chabrier & Quénéhervé 2003).
2. Grow sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), marigold (Tagetes patula), rapeseed (Brassica
napus), velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens), sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor ×
Sorghum arundinaceum var. Sudanense) and other nematode-suppressive cover crops
for 3 months or more before preparing the field for banana planting.
Obtain Clean Planting Materials
1. Use disease-free micropropagated (tissue-cultured) banana plants for replanting. This is
one effective tactic to prevent the inadvertent spread of BBTV and plant-parasitic
nematodes. Two of the most damaging nematodes on banana, spiral nematode
(Helicotylenchus multicinctus) and burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis), are
endoparasitic nematodes. This means that, similar to BBTV, they can survive in the
banana plant and be transferred to a new field if infected plants are used as replanting
material.
2. If obtaining tissue-cultured banana plantlets is not feasible, planting symptomless banana
suckers is another choice. However, the risk of farmers inadvertently transplanting BBTV-
infected symptomless suckers is high. Hooks et al. (2008, 2009) found that BBTV has a
long incubation period (20–85 days) in Hawai‘i climates. As such, infected plants may
appear healthy for a lengthy time period. A survey of 50 symptomless banana suckers
newly transplanted at a commercial banana farm on O‘ahu revealed that 100% of the
suckers contained banana aphids, 92% were infested with winged morphs, and 20% of
the suckers contained aphids that tested positive for BBTV (Hooks unpublished).
3. Planting of symptomless banana suckers should be accompanied by weekly scouting for
BBTV symptoms after transplanting to ensure timely removal of newly symptomatic
BBTV-infected plants.
4. To reduce the viability of nematodes in banana keiki that are to be transplanted, farmers
can refer to the hot water treatment (55°C for 10 min) or banana keiki
solarization techniques (1.5 hours) described in Chapter V.
5. Although banana root weevil is not among the top 3 pests of concern targeted in this
chapter, farmers should examine the corm of the banana keiki before planting for any
damage caused by this weevil

10. Crop Maintenance After Transplanting
1. Maintain only 5–7 leaves per plant. This is sufficient to support banana bunch
development. Remove excessive leaves to allow pesticides to come into contact with the
targeted pests (banana aphids or black Sigatoka, etc.).
2. Maintain only 3–5 plants per mat. This will allow better banana bunch development. A
thick mat is difficult to manage
(Fig. 10-2).
3. Scout and destroy BBTV-
infected plants regularly. Identify
and destroy virus-infected plants
as early as possible (refer to
Chapter II Table II-1 for early
BBTV symptoms). Banana takes 5
days to unfold a new leaf in the
tropical climate of Hawai‘i. You
should suspect BBTV infection if
new leaves do not unfold within
this time. Scout for banana aphids
and always spray insecticides on
BBTV-infected plants before
rogueing to avoid spread of
viruliferous aphids.
4. Once a BBTV-symptomatic plant
is detected, destroy the plant
with bananacide (see Fig. 4-1 to
5 for instructions). However, it will take the banana plant approximately 6 weeks to die
back after the bananacide injection. During this period, the banana plants should be left
intact in the field, as removing the plant will cause the remaining aphids on the sick plant
to spread. New healthy plants can be
replanted in the same planting spots after
ensuring the injected plants are dead.
5. Manage nematodes after planting by
using marigold. Plant marigolds 4 months
after banana transplanting to reduce
nematode damage and to avoid competition
in growth between banana and marigold
However, the marigolds might not last too
long, as the banana canopy closes up and
begins to shade them. Nonetheless, this
provides a good approach for post-plant
nematode management that might lead to
prolonging productivity of the banana crop.

11. Insecticide Treatment
1. Scout for banana aphids using a binomial sequential sampling plan (see Fig. 4-8) to
determine when to treat the plant with insecticide. Count the number of banana plants
with aphids present on the lower two leaves to determine whether insecticide spray is
needed.
2. Insecticide spray should be focused on <2.5 m-tall plants, in the area between the leaf
petioles and pseudostem of banana.
3. Most importantly, farmers should spray insecticide on BBTV-infected plants that are
injected with bananacide as well as their neighboring plants. Once the vectors of BBTV is
killed on the main source of BBTV in a field, this may eliminate preemptive spraying of
insecticide throughout the entire orchard, thus saving money for the farmers.
4. If the aphid population is low, managing ants in banana fields is not necessary.
Fungicide Treatment
1. If field sanitation can mitigate the spread of Sigatoka diseases, use of fungicide spray
should be the last resort. In Australia, banana growers are recommended to trim excess
banana leaves if more than 15% of the leaf is showing visible symptoms of yellow
Sigatoka during the wet season, but only trim if more than 30% of the leaf is symptomatic
during the dry season (State of Queensland 2003).
2. Repeated use of fungicides with the same mode of action could trigger the buildup of a
fungicide-resistant population of Mycospharrella fijiensis or M. musicola. Most importantly,
rotate fungicides with and without triazole. Add spreader sticker to fungicide spray to
improve the performance of the fungicide.

12. Maintenance Of Banana Fruits
1. Cut off flower raceme after 7 hands of fruits have developed per bunch. A longer flower
raceme (Fig. 10-4) will act as a nutrient sink and rob nutrients from harvestable fruits.
2. Bag the fruits after raceme removal to protect the fruits, and label each bunch for
convenience of harvest (Fig. 10-5).
3. Track bunch weight over time. If yield is declining significantly, it is time for replanting.

13. REFERENCE
• Ferreira, S.A, E.E. Trujillo, and D.Y. Ogata. 1997. Banana Bunchy Top
Virus. https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/PD-12.pdf
• Hooks, C.R.R., M.G. Wright, D.S. Kabasawa, R. Manandhar, and R.P.P. Almeida. 2008.
Effect of Banana bunchy top virus infection on morphology and growth characteristics of
banana. Annals Appl. Biol. 153: 1–9.
• Hooks, C.R.R, S. Fukuda, E.A. Perez, R. Manandhar, K.-H. Wang, M.G. Wright, and
R.P.P. Almeida. 2009a. Aphid transmission of Banana bunchy top virus to bananas after
treatment with a bananacide. J. Econ. Entomol. 102: 493–499.
• Hooks, C.R.R., R. Manandhar, E.P. Perez, K.-H. Wang, and R.P.P. Almeida. 2009b.
Comparative susceptibility of two banana cultivars to Banana bunchy top virus under
laboratory and field environments. J. Econ. Entomol. 102: 897–904.
• Hooks, C.R.R, K.-H. Wang, N.C. Pradhan, R. Manandhar, and M.G. Wright. 2014. In
Review. Population distribution and density of Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel
(Hemiptera: Aphididae) within banana mats: Influence of plant age and height on
sampling and management. J. Econ. Entomol.
• Mau, R.F.L., J.L. Martin Kessing, V.L. Tenbrink, and A.H. Hara. 1994. Pentalonia
nigronervosa (Coquerel). http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop/Type/pentalon.htm
• Robson, J.D., M.G. Wright, and R.P.P. Almeida. 2007. Biology of Pentalonia
nigronervosa (Hemiptera, Aphididiae) on banana using different rearing
methods. Environmental Entomology 36: 46–52.
• Vezina, A. 2013. Bunchy Top in Australia: 100 not (quite) out! Australian Bananas 39.
• Wang, K.-H., and C.R.R. Hooks. 2009a. Survey of Nematodes on Banana in Hawaii and
Methods Used for their Control. University of Hawai‘i CTAR, Plant Disease, PD-69.
• Wang, K.-H., and C.R.R. Hooks. 2009b. Plant-parasitic nematodes and their associated
natural enemies within banana (Musa spp.) plantings in Hawaii. Nematropica 39: 57–73.