Colombia receives banana varieties from Embrapa for testing

In vitro seedlings of banana varieties, from Embrapa Mandioca and Fruticultura (Cruz das Almas, BA), are already in Colombia for testing in presence of race 4 Tropical of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC R4T), responsible for Fusarium wilt, the most destructive disease of the crop, still without definitive control and present in that country since 2019.

In addition to the varieties BRS Princess (Apple type) and BRS Platinum (Silver type), improved banana diploids were also sent – ancestral relatives of current varieties – which are used in crossbreeding aiming to develop new commercial cultivars of the fruit.

The material was planted at the quarantine station of the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA), where it will remain for up to six months to confirm the absence of fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes existing in the country of origin. After this quarantine, they will proceed to testing in a greenhouse to check possible resistance to R4T.

“Colombia is a great exporter of Apple bananas, especially to the United States. They want to test BRS Princesa for this market, since Fusarium has limited the production of the Maçã cultivar in the country”, explains the researcher Edson Perito Amorim, leader of Embrapa's Banana and Plantain Genetic Improvement Program.

A activity is part of the research agreement between Embrapa, the Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research) – AgroSavia and the Asociación de Bananeros de Colombia (Banana Producers Association of Colombia) – Augura, non-profit entity that has brought together, since 1963, producers and banana traders from Antioquia and Magdalena, areas that produce the fruit for international markets.

“This work is part fundamental part of the preventive improvement strategy that we are running at Embrapa. Our germplasm went to a country where the disease is present and where we have a project. Then we will be able to know, within in a short time, if we have genotypes resistant to race 4, closing the cycle of improvement. Shipping of BRS Princesa and BRS Platina is also very important for Brazil, as they would demonstrate resistance to a disease that can enter our borders,” he says.

Similar action recently occurred with research institutions in Australia and the Coast Rich. The objective of these tests is to guide Embrapa in the use of diploids resistant in their crossings, in order to allow the development of resistant commercial cultivars, especially the Prata type, the most planted in Brazil.

Fusarium wilt

The fungus can enter through different routes: contaminated soil in shoes, tools, banana seedlings (visibly healthy, but infected) and ornamental plants, which can also be hosts.

To the research already developed by Embrapa in areas of improvement genetic and management of the disease in relation to existing breeds in Brazil are a reference framework for combating a possible outbreak of R4T in the country. Embrapa monitors the populations of the pathogen existing in the Brazilian territory, which will assist in the selection and recommendation of varieties and even timely detection of an outbreak.

The disease already occurs in Australia, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Oman, Jordan, Mozambique, Colombia and Peru, where the focus was identified in 2020. The presence of the plague in two neighboring countries with strong ties friendship and trade leaves Brazil in a permanent state of alert.