Embrapa promotes a course on Good Practices for Managing Banana Culture

Embrapa Amazônia Oeste promotes, on August 18th and 19th, the course “Good Practices for Banana Culture Management”, in the municipality of Coari, AM. The training aims to guide farmers and rural extension technicians on the appropriate management of the crop. The course will be held at the Coari Municipal Department of Social Development, from 8am to 12pm / 13pm to 16pm. It will have researchers Mirza Carla Pereira and Luadir Gasparotto as instructors.

The training is part of the project schedule “Implementation of URT with plane tree cv. Pacovan, associated with the application of fungicide to the axillary leaf to control black Sigatoka, in the municipality of Coari”, with financial resources from a parliamentary amendment. The program content will demonstrate how the choice of cultivars is made, the area and time of planting, preparation of the soil and areas, selection and preparation of seedlings, fertilization, cultural practices, harvesting and post-harvest. The main diseases and pests will also be discussed and there will be a technical visit to the banana plantation area.

The municipality of Coari was once considered the largest producer of Pacovan bananas or Banana da Terra in the State of Amazonas. Banana cultivation is carried out mainly in high plains, however, in recent decades this scenario has changed due to the large floods that have occurred in recent years and have reached these areas, causing flooding of plantations and the death of plants.

Other factors that favor the reduction of planted area, low production and loss of productivity of banana plantations in Coari and many municipalities in Amazonas are the lack of control of the black Sigatoka foliar disease, contamination of floodplain soils by Moko of the banana tree and by low technological level in plantation management. Mainly, we can mention the use of low quality seedlings, the lack of adequate management of fertilization and plants and the incorrect management of plant waste. With this scenario, the municipality of Coari, through its public bodies, linked to the primary sector, has been looking for alternatives to boost banana cultivation using technologies and technical training.