Banana Anthracnose

Anthracnose

Credit: Biovision-Infonet

It is an important post-harvest problem of bananas especially during transport and storage. On green fruit, pin-size brown or black sunken spots develop. Infection in young fruit is not always manifested until the fruit ripens, when black, round, slightly sunken spots appear. The centres of the spots become dark because of the formation of small black fruiting bodies of the fungus. Under moist conditions, masses of spores are produced having a characteristic salmon (pinkish) colour. Pulp of diseased fruit is usually not affected unless the fruit is over-ripe.What to do:

• Practise good field sanitation.
• Minimise bruising during fruit handling
• Hot water treatment of the fruit for 5 min at 50degC.
• Proper sanitation of handling facilities.
• Reports from Philippine claim that sprays of jathropa oil extract at 5000 ppm (5 ml of oil extract in 5 litres of water) significantly controlled anthracnose on bananas and ripening was delayed by 12 days (Philippine Organic Agriculture Information Network, 2004).