Kostas

Hello!

I would like to ask you what steps should be taken to prevent disease introduction when moving banana pups between countries. How should one treat a pup to be sure no disease is introduced to his country and at the same ensure pup survival? I have read the 1995 paper on safe movement of Musa sp. germplasm but it involves tc which I am not prepared to do or have it done for me. So I would like some like a preparation/treatment list to employ when I get pups. Also,since something like that will probably be too much work for a well intentioned pup sharer(which I am always extremely obligated and thankful to! ), I would also like to know of a good way to ship them that both ensures survival and minimizes disease transmition risk in the meantime,till I can properly treat them.

I am asking all that because I plan to get some pups from a friend in Cameroon and since its a banana growing region,it has many banana diseases as well which I would like to keep away...Most members here don't have such diseases in their region so it's much safer. I am after some highland bananas though and hopefully something difficult to get from elsewhere. We will see...

Thank you very much in advance!!!

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pitangadiego

Quite a while back there was a video about trimming and scrubbing a corm, bleaching it, etc. No idea where it is now. That addresses soil borne pests and diseases. however there are other issues such at BTV, Sigatoka, etc which are transmitted, if I understand correctly, in the tissue of the plant and cannot be eliminated.

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chasbear

Kostas, when I first joined this group I was asked about sending Senorita corms to the US but could not because of disease issues. Specifically, no exports of banana plant tissues are allowed to be exported from our island to any other islands of the Philippines or other nations. So, I never pursued any further what it takes to do this. I will be interested in the results of your inquiry here.

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Kostas

Thank you very much for your replys!

pitangadiego,

Thanks,that video would help on how things are done!


From what i read in the paper i refered to,it is advised to get a pup between 25-50cm in height,trimming the roots off and probably check for damaged portions of the corm from nematodes or weevils and remove these as well. It also advises cutting back the pseudostem to only 10cm in height. But,since it then asks for tc and tissue checks of tced plantlets for virus and other disease,it doesnt say if this makes it safe for certain diseases and pests but not for others and which these are. It also doesnt state heat treating the corm which i see advised elsewhere to kill any remaining nematodes. I also dont know how exactly the heat treatment is properly done and if this kills 100% of the remaining nematodes or not. That is the kind of info i am after.


Chasbear,

Good to hear you are interested in such info as well! I am trying to address the real problems and risks of moving banana pups from banana growing regions here but not the legal ones. These are a complete different chapter with which my friend will help. But he doesnt know much about bananas unfortunately...So i need your help in correcly sanitizing them and checking for and addressing diseases without introducing them to my country.


I am sure most of todays availiable cultivars came from banana growing regions with similar problems and most probably without getting tced first. It just needs correct handling in my opinion in addition to the legal part.

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sunfish

Kostas

Thanks Tony!

Do you maybe have the paper about the hot water treatments and corm/pseudostem trimming needed?

Thank you very much in advance!

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sunfish

Boiling Water Treatment of Banana and Plantain - Technical Information Online - Practical Answers


Plant parasitic nematodes in ... - Google Books

Kostas

Thank you very much for the links Tony!!!

They are very helpful!


That should take care of the nematodes,weevils and any other hitchhiker bugs. Now we are left with Sigatoka and the various virus.

Does paring and boiling take care of Sigatoka as well? If i cut the pseudostem of the sucker short,will boiling kill any tissues of the disease left along with possible fallen spores or does it need a separate treatment and with what? Pesticides/fungicides are last resort for me and would prefer not to use them.

From what i have read,most virus do not get transmitted mechanically,without their host bugs. Would it be possible to check for their presence while the sucker is establishing in a pot and still small and kept in a confined,indoor environment? Would such a check assure normal growth in the future?
If a certain virus is present but remains asymptomatic,is there anything bad in that?

Thank you very much in advance!

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sunfish

Gabe15

Since bunchy top virus (BBTV) is present in Cameroon, and it would be extremely easy to send an infected plant without knowing it, I would say this is your biggest threat. Other disease transmissions should of course be considered and taken care of, but BBTV is not so easy to take care of. The big problem is that plants can be infected without any symptoms, and then develop symptoms later on. For you to absolutely prevent bunchy top, a verified clean plant (which is which tissue culture and virus indexing comes in) needs to be sent which is also free of the aphids which transmit the virus to other plants. It is possible you could be sent a virus-free plant, but by importing a plant of unknown virus status you risk infecting all of your plants and anyone elses in the area. Worst case scenario all of your plants would become infected and you will have to destroy them all and start over.

Once, I brought some plants back from Florida to Colorado (not Hawaii) which I made sure to be free of banana aphids (the same which transmit BBTV, Pentalonia nigronirvosa). When I brought them back to my greenhouse, everything was fine for awhile, but before too long those aphids were all over my other plants. Luckily, there is no BBTV in Florida, so they were not carrying the virus, but if they were, as which might happen in your case, I would have lost almost my entire collection. It only takes 1 aphid feeding for 2 minutes to infect a plant, so by the time you notice an aphid outbreak, it is too late.

Short Story: it is possible to import clean plants with simple methods, you import at your own risk, but there are real, serious disease threats (mainly BBTV) which can lead to serious problems.

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varig8

I would think that the best way to approach this problem would be to contact the Agricultural Dept and Customs of both countries. They will be able to give you instructions on how to prepare them for shipment and IF it is legal to import/export musa concerning the 2 countries in question. Get the specifics from the proper authorities so as not to waste your time and money and possible confiscation.

Basjoofriend

Yes, you are right! I requested a permit of import for Musa basjoo, Musa "Ice Cream", Musa "Saba", Musa "Praying Hands", Musa "Thousand Fingers", Musa "Mysore", "Dwarf Cavendish", "Dhusré" and some other bananas from my old garden in Hamburg for the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil, I asked for that at the Agriculture Ministery of Sao Paulo. But I didn't get one permission, one woman from the Agriculture Ministery told me that it is prohibited to import banana pups to Sao Paulo in Brazil because of the pests and diseases! It was difficulty to get Musa basjoo for Brazil.

Kostas, it might be easier if you do get disease resistant FHIA cultivars, e. g. FHIA-18. I got FHIA-18 from one Brazilian friend of Frutas Raras. Also Mysore. These are resistant and very good for my new garden in Lucianópolis! They are even thriving well despite of the sandy soil! Also the new disease resistant Brazilian cultivars like Preciosa, Japira, Caipira, Tropicana, Garantida, Pacovan Ken, Victoria and some others from Embrapa — Embrapa are recommened.

It is the best, when you do ask the Greek agricultural ministery for the permit of import of plants from Africa. But I don't believe that the Greek agricultural ministery will permit you to import pups from Africa because of the pests and diseases. You know that Creta is the Greek commercial banana growing area, the agricultural ministery want to protect this against the diseases and pests from Africa. It is the best, when you order banana plants from Bananen Shop, this is the best.

For me it is the best, when I order pups from Frutas Raras, Mariplantas.com.br or from the plant dealer in Duartina (he orders plants for me, I got even one baobao, Adansonia digitata, monkey fruit tree for my yard, this is rare in Brazil!) and Embrapa.

Also you can order seeds and grow bananas from seed, it is not difficulty, you can order at rarepalmseeds.com - palm seeds, cycad seeds, banana seeds

Best wishes
Basjoofriend

Kostas

Thank you very much all of you or your replys!


Thanks Tony,i will contact Dr.Nelson as well!


Thank you very much for your very informative reply Gabe!
Wouldnt paring,pseudostem shortening to 10cm and hot or boiling water treatment kill any aphids and eggs living on the banana and so eliminate virus transmition risks? The imported plant would still have it but when it showed symptoms,i would just dispose it in a biohazard bin(i have access to such bins and facilities).
How easy and costly is it to virus index a plant of one's collection?

Would you propose of another treatment of the pups complementary to hot/boiling water treatment? Would such a treatment take care of Sigatoka?


Thanks for your reply varig8!

I will contact them the Greek authorities but they are somewhat regarding plant disease treatment and preparation of tropical plants. My friend will contact the Cameroon authorities which should be of more help.

Having personal experience with certain people from phytosanitary departments,i would rather have a plan to treat the pups myself as well to be sure nothing bad is left on them!
I am almost certain i can get a permit for that exchange.


Thank you very much for your reply Joachim!

I can probably get FHIA varieties from safer sources than Cameroon so it would not be worth it for those. But for Highland bananas,local AA ones,certain plantains and maybe some Fehi,it would be worth the hassle!

I do know that about Crete,but since one does can import other crop plants from other 3rd countries,i dont think it will be any more difficult for bananas

Thanks for your advise!

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Gabe15

The best thing you can do is to do as varig8 suggests, and follow all of the regulations and make sure you have your import permits and everything set to go. Normally, for disease, it is the importing location whose rules you need to follow.

However, my same thoughts still apply, and that although you can still follow all of the rules, it is still risky when transporting suckers. This is why all of the international transfers are normally done with verified clean, tissue cultured plants. Virus testing and tissue culture are not easy or cheap, especially for just a few plants.

And also because the person who would be sending them to you does not sound like they know exactly what they are doing, that can also be a source of a lot of potential disease problems.

Doing, the paring and hot water treatment can help with some things, but still other such as bacterial diseases would persist in the plant, so again, it is always risky unless you know for sure, which can be difficult and expensive to do.

Assuming you can get them to Greece legally, and you acquire them, when you get them, cut off all remaining roots to the corm, wash all soil off the corm, cut the pseudostem to below any petioles, remove the outer 2-3 sheaths, rinse in a 5% bleach solution for about 30min, let them dry out completely, and when you grow them, keep them away from your other plants, and don't use any tools with your other plants that you use with your new plants without sterilizing them (in case of bacterial diseases). If everything looks good after about 6 months, you should be in the clear, but still take note of them as BBTV can sometimes have very long latency periods (up to 2 years for some varieties in some conditions).

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Kostas

Thank you very much for your reply Gabe!

Always informative and exactly what i was looking for! Doing it the legal way will surely help cut down on the risk but since i cant be sure the protocols will be followed properly at the exporting country,treating them myself as well upon arrival should make things even safer!

Indeed,not knowing much about bananas and their diseases surely doesnt help with getting clean material to start with. I am sending him several articles,photos and papers to get an idea on what he should avoid and some guidelines on collecting. Hopefully he does a good job and the material is exportable...

Thanks a lot for describing a proper treating procedure! Do i follow it after the hot/boiling water treatment to get rid of the remaining pathogens? Do i need to par(peel?) the corm or is it safe enough to do it with its outside intact and only the roots cut off?

I plan to grow the resulting plants in a room under artificial lights for 9 months and if nothing suspicious,they get to see the sun again next year!

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Pancrazio

I'm bumping this tread, since it is relevant to my interests.
If i get a pup from another person, how i should handle it to be sure i won't spread any diesease in my backyard? I'm speaking about an healty corm from another country, but not a tissue cultured plant.
I'm not speaking of banana diseases (somehow pathologies exclusives of bananas won't excape my greenhouse - no other bananas around here - so they can be "resetted" eliminating all my bananas; it is painful, but doable), but i'm speaking the kind of soil borne disease that can attack common house vegetables, like tomatoes or zucchini. I fear that kind of disease: once in my backyard, i fear myself being unable to eliminate them. What i should do?
A simple wash in bleach + removing any trace of soil could work? I simply want to eliminate bacteria and fungi and everything that can damage other vegetables: i don't care about banana-only disease.
Thank you!

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2woodensticks

if going over any border,i think only CORMS or SEEDS should be transported..i am in florida..citrus all over, unless you buy trees in the state you cant bring them in..most nursery's cant even send them in the mail legally..brazil and such places that produce bananas as a cash crop want to protect said crop..corms and seeds can be cleaned 100% whole plants can not..

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venturabananas

Corms can't be cleaned of viruses, like bunchy top. Hence the need for virus tested, tissue cultured plants.

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