How to prevent and control banana Fusarium wilt? The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences has achieved notable results

In Nanbao Town, Lingao County, Hainan Province, there is a banana field that, after banana Fusarium wilt was found in 2005, was still able to retain suckers continuously for 11 years of normal production, while nearby banana plantations where Fusarium wilt appeared during the same period still had persistently high incidence rates after repeated crop rotation and had to switch to other crops. This is thanks to the integrated banana Fusarium wilt prevention and control technology developed by the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, which is mainly based on antagonistic bacterial fertilizer.

Recently, Hainan held an on-site observation meeting on the results of banana Fusarium wilt prevention and control. Dozens of government staff, experts and scholars, enterprise representatives, and large growers visited 3 integrated banana Fusarium wilt prevention and control demonstration sites of the Institute of Bioscience of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, including Nanbao Town in Lingao County, Huaxin Farm, and Hongxing Farm. These demonstration sites planted varieties such as Brazilian banana, Nongke No. 1, and Nantianhuang, and all achieved notable results in Fusarium wilt prevention and control.

Researcher Zhang Xiyan, chief scientist of the National Banana Industry Technology System, introduced that the disease incidence rate at the Nanbao base was 10.8% in 2005. After applying the integrated prevention and control technology, the incidence rate gradually decreased, and in the past three years it was 4.9%, 2.1%, and 1.5% respectively. At the Hongxing Farm demonstration base, the incidence rate was as high as 70.3% in 2013. Prevention and control began in 2014, and in 2015 the incidence rate dropped to 8%. This year it is expected to be below 5%.

It is understood that banana Fusarium wilt is caused by Fusarium oxysporum, which spreads the virus through soil and is highly contagious and destructive. It commonly occurs in China's main banana-producing areas. In banana plantations with severe disease, banana plants turn yellow in patches or even die, causing serious losses to growers. Banana Fusarium wilt has become the biggest obstacle affecting the healthy development of China's banana industry. In Zhang Xiyan's view, the main cause of banana Fusarium wilt is excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which damages soil ecology, reduces beneficial bacteria, and increases pathogenic bacteria.

In response, experts from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences screened a group of antagonistic bacteria against banana Fusarium wilt in Hainan, which can inhibit the Fusarium wilt pathogen. At the same time, they developed a fermentation process for a compound microbial bacterial fertilizer that can be applied together with water and fertilizer, and cooperated with enterprises to achieve factory production of bacterial fertilizer. Combined with the application of disease-resistant varieties and organic fertilizer, it can not only effectively inhibit the spread of banana Fusarium wilt, but also has a nutritional function that promotes banana plant growth.

At present, the area of banana plantations in Hainan using this integrated prevention and control technology has reached 4,100 mu, and the demonstration area in Guangxi is more than 2,000 mu. The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences hopes to solve various problems arising throughout the entire production process, from banana bagging, flower removal and fruit thinning, pesticide spraying, to water and fertilizer management, by establishing an industry-chain-oriented specialized technical service team. In order to expand the demonstration and promotion area as soon as possible, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences has adopted methods such as capital contribution and equity participation and shared risk to reduce the concerns of planting enterprises and large growers about banana Fusarium wilt prevention and control.

"The era when you could make money as long as you planted bananas has passed. Only by growing good bananas can you make money." Zhang Xiyan said frankly that to compete with imported foreign bananas, domestic banana farmers must change cultivation models, reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer, increase organic nutrition, improve soil ecology, and increase beneficial bacterial flora. This is also the key to preventing and controlling Fusarium wilt.