27/07/2023

Ministry of Agriculture raises awareness of Fusarium Wilt

By Neval Auguste, GIS

The banana, plantain and macambou crops are some of the predominant economic drivers for Saint Lucia, for regional and international trade and food security. However, the species are currently being threatened by the recent global outbreak of Fusarium Wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum.

Chief Extension Officer in the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Rural Development, Mr. Eloi Alexis, elaborates on the Ministry's effort to raise awareness of Fusarium Wilt.

“We are right now sensitizing farmers. Extension officers will be equipped with the requisite knowledge of how to identify the disease and pass this knowledge on to farmers so that they can report to the nearest agricultural office. Extension officers will be at the forefront of the sensitization efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Various agencies will assist with efforts to curb the fungus from entering the island.

“We have other stakeholders that would be involved in sensitization,” Mr. Alexis said. “We brought in a litany of different agencies. Very important is SLASPA, as it controls all of the island’s ports. Our main focus right now since we have no reported cases of the disease is to prevent the entry of the disease.”

This disease was reported for the first time in Colombia in (2019), later in Peru in (2021), and recently declared in Venezuela in (2023).

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