EVERY day, Roger Turner, a banana exporter from Bog Walk in St. Catherine, "scores" the weather. If it is sunny, the weather may be scored at 200 and if it is raining the score may jump to a high of 1,800. Once the score reaches a value of about 6,000 over a period of time, he begins to spray his precious banana crop.
This scientific method of scoring the weather based on rainfall and temperature is a means of preventing his 120-hectare plantation from succumbing to the leaf spot disease, Black Sigatoka. Mr. Turner lost about $13 million in export to the disease between 1997 and 1998.
Black Sigatoka is a dangerous fungal disease that affects bananas and plantains. Outbreak of the disease leads to death of the leave, premature fruit ripening, which results in poor fruit quality and loss of gross harvest yield. These effects reduce the income of farmers, threaten export and domestic industries and jeopardises the sustainability of the banana trade.
Mr. Turner, like other farmers in Jamaica, has had to deal with the disease since it first found its way into the island in 1995. It was reported in Cuba from as early as 1992. The Dominican Republic reported incidents of the disease in 1997 and by 2000, plantations in Haiti had been affected by the disease.
The disease spreads rapidly and is difficult to control, but local farmers are fortunate to have the support of the European Union Banana Support Programme (EUBSP), where they are provided with technical and financial assistance as well as training to manage and control the disease. The EU also funds research on the disease.
Sebastian Coppieters, technical assistant to the Banana Export Company (BECO) which manages the EU project, tells JIS News that about the same time when the disease was identified in Jamaica, prices for banana fell on the European market and importers were demanding a higher quality of fruit.
"It was a very difficult time for the farmer. Prices in Europe fell, country requirements went up and at the end of the day, the supermarkets were paying less for a better quality fruit. Then the disease comes, which require more resources to control. The farmer now faced a higher cost of production and reduced income," he says.
To help the farmers combat the disease, a farm store has been set up in Portland from which farmers can credit chemicals to spray their crop. A cadre of persons has been trained to carry out spraying activities.
Spraying cycles are based on an analysis of biological and climate data. "The spraying operations are done very professionally. When you had only the Yellow Sigatoka you could get away with a limited number of spraying sessions per year and you could get away with unskilled persons spraying, but with the Black Sigatoka you must have a technician who is well trained," Mr. Coppieters explains.
BECO has a strong research department that monitors the disease throughout the island to see that there is no resistance to the chemicals.
The disease is now under control, but as the rainy season approaches, Mr. Coppieters is urging farmers to be especially vigilant. This is because Black Sigatoka thrives in areas of high humidity, which makes areas such as Portland, St. Thomas and St. Mary particularly vulnerable.
"Going into the high disease pressure season, it is very important that you never actually see the disease. You must adopt a cycle depending on a close examination of the leaves, which will give you an idea of the level of development of the disease and climatic conditions," he points out.
At a recent Caribbean Black Sigatoka management workshop held in Kingston, Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke, expressed the Government's commitment to fighting the disease that has threatened the banana industry.
He says the Government has been working with a number of organisations and agencies to contain the disease, including the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA), through the Agriculture Health and Food Safety Programme.
He has high praises for the EU, which has expended significant sums to fight the disease and to ensure a high quality product for the international market.
In June of this year, the Government and the EU signed an agreement for an allocation of $212 million in support of the banana industry. Over $400 million was allocated during 1999/2000.
"Today, with the EU's continued assistance, the banana industry is redefining itself by becoming more efficient, competitive and retaining a fair share of the international and domestic markets," the Minister says.
