The cause and management of crown rot of banana

Abstract

Crown End Rot (CER) was identified as an increasing problem in 2008, having been an occasional problem during the 1980’s and 90’s. Preliminary work in 2012 indicated that a loss of sensitivity had developed to registered postharvest fungicides, but the extent of the problem was not known. Since 2012 further losses continued to occur, consequently this project was undertaken to address the key areas of need for the industry:

• Identify fungi responsible for crown rot and determine importance in disease cycle

• Determine extent of fungicide resistance in the crown rot fungi

• Determine the impact of field, shed and supply chain practices on disease management.

Crown rot was redefined to include the market’s perspective of the problem which included moulds and rots of the flower ends, flower remnants, as well as crown mould. Our results showed crown end rot is caused by a complex of fungi, and that some were resistant to a currently registered post-harvest fungicide. Field management practices played an incremental role in reducing disease inoculum levels, however the main contribution to effective disease management was post-harvest fungicide application. Some alternative postharvest products provided equivalent control of crown end rot and mould.

Evaluation of the project shows that it has influenced knowledge change and practice adoption in the banana industry. Significant communication and extension efforts were made to keep the whole supply chain informed of the latest results that has led to:

• Decreased incidence of crown end rot due to appropriate and timely use of post-harvest fungicides

• Better awareness in the supply chain of the different aspects of symptom development

• Improved communication at all levels of the supply chain