Panama disease detected in banana plantations in Pakistan and Lebanon
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - 10:00
in Biology & Nature
Following outbreaks in Jordan and Mozambique just over a year ago, the Tropical Race 4 strain (TR4) of Fusarium oxysporum – the cause of Panama disease in Cavendish bananas – has now spread to Pakistan and Lebanon. TR4 was also reported in Queensland, Australia, on 15 March 2015. These events underline once more the extent of the threat TR4 poses to global banana production. Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) has joined forces with Asim Agriculture Farm in Pakistan and Debbane Agri Group in Lebanon to analyse samples from symptomatic plants. The results were published today in the journal Plant Disease.