Govt advised to ban banana imports from Mozambique

By Correspondent

Assistant Director, Plant Health Services (PHS) in the Ministry of Agriculture,

 The government has been advised to ban transportation, importation and distribution of banana plants in the country from Mozambique.

 

This follows the outbreak of a new killer disease known as Fusarium Wilt Race-4 in Mozambique which, once infests the plants, it sends to the entire banana farm to the graveyard.

 

The advice was given by Assistant Director, Plant Health Service (PHS) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Cornelius Mkondo at the Nane Nane exhibitions here.

 

Mkondo, who is also Chief Inspector of plant health services was speaking during a brief interview with reporters on the status of the disease and the measures being taken by the Ministry to smoke it out.

 

He said the disease leads to the wilting of banana leaves, browning of the tissues of the pseudosterm and total yield loss or production of small and stunted fruits.

 

He said the news about the presence of the disease in Mozambique first surfaced during a presentation in South Africa and later on, it was reported the by Southern African Development Community (SADC) early this year.

 

“This disease is lethal because once it infests banana plants, it kills almost 100 percent of the entire farm,” he said. He further informed that in the meantime, Tanzania is free from the menace.

 

He adds: ‘I advise that if there is a necessary demand of some cultivars of the plants from Mozambique, no one is supposed to issue permits save the minister’.

 

The government should only allow the importation of banana plants after getting adequate information from the National Plant Protection Organization of the Mozambican government on the management of the disease, he said.

 

Tanzania is currently grappling with another burden which is Banana Bacteria Wilt disease in various parts of the country including Kagera, which the Ministry ia almost managing to contain in the western part of the country, he said.

 

He said that allowing the importation of the infested banana plants that cause the new killer disease into the country would be like adding salt in a gushing wound.

 

“All the banana plants from Mozambique are under quarantine unless produced from the disease free area. No plant quarantine and phytosanitary Inspector is allowed to issue permit except by powers of the Minister responsible for Agriculture. If there is an urgent need, the permits shall be issued under very strict conditions including subjecting the plant material under contained post entry quarantine,” he said.

 

He urged farmers in the Southern regions and the general public to report any case related to importation and distribution of the plants so that the government can take appropriate measures immediately. 

 

“Management of invasive alien pests like this needs rapid response once they are reported to occur, therefore reporting of their occurrence is obligatory as provided in the Plant Protection Act of 1997,” he added.

 

Elaborating on how the disease spreads, he said, it can spread through the tools that are used during planting, weeding or harvesting through contamination.

 

He also said that soiled equipment from infested plants if put on infested area have also a great chance of making the area vulnerable.

 

According to Mkondo, water splash from traumatised stem can also transmit the fungus as well as irrigation canals downstream in already infested field. 

Appropriate irrigation management is therefore important, he advised.

 

“Since this is a new disease, other transmission methods are still on research,” he added.

 

He said that the government has decided to put the plants from Mozambique under quarantine because it might be overstretched in terms of capacity to eradicate the disease due to the mechanism of spread and the limited knowledge of the new disease.

 

He urged the public to take the matter seriously to this awareness campaign because there is also a high risk to entry potential, and establishment potential, spread potential as well as socioeconomic implications. 

 

The high risk of entry is due to inevitable cross border interaction of people between the two countries. ‘Every agricultural stakeholder must take deliberate and concerted efforts to prevent the disease from entry’, Mkondo concluded.

 

This year’s Nane Nane exhibitions are being held at national level at Ngongo grounds located some 20-kms from Lindi town.

 

The theme of this year is Matokeo Makubwa Sasa-Tuchague Viongozi bora kwa Maendeleo ya Kilimo na Ufugaji- Big Results Now- We should Choose good Leaders for Agriculturala dna Livestock Development.