Research on Panama Disease TR4 unfortunately destroyed

Discovered at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-17/panama-disease-banana-research-destro…

Sites:

IBIS PH

Publish date:

Tue 2015-Mar-17

Author:

Matt Brann

Channel:

Industry

Text (summary):

Updated March 17, 2015 12:58:36

A research project to trial banana plants that could tolerate Panama Disease Tropical Race 4 has been thwarted by another plant disease, Banana Freckle.

Panama Tropical Race 4 (TR4) completely devastated the Northern Territory’s banana industry in the 1990s and has now been found on a banana farm in far north Queensland.

A range of tissue cultured banana varieties were sent to the Northern Territory late last year for research trials, in the hope of finding varieties that could handle Panama Disease-infested soils.

But the trial has been suspended and the banana plants, which were still in their pots, are in the process of being destroyed, because of the NT’s Banana Freckle eradication program.

“We had about 18 varieties and the plan was to put them out at our Coastal Plains research station, which is infected with Panama TR4,” said Bob Williams, the Northern Territory’s director of plant industries.

“We wanted to see which of these [plants] could stand up to heavy [disease] pressure.

Original language:

English

Original title:

Research on Panama Disease TR4 unfortunately destroyed

Original text (summary):

Updated March 17, 2015 12:58:36

A research project to trial banana plants that could tolerate Panama Disease Tropical Race 4 has been thwarted by another plant disease, Banana Freckle.

Panama Tropical Race 4 (TR4) completely devastated the Northern Territory’s banana industry in the 1990s and has now been found on a banana farm in far north Queensland.

A range of tissue cultured banana varieties were sent to the Northern Territory late last year for research trials, in the hope of finding varieties that could handle Panama Disease-infested soils.

But the trial has been suspended and the banana plants, which were still in their pots, are in the process of being destroyed, because of the NT’s Banana Freckle eradication program.

“We had about 18 varieties and the plan was to put them out at our Coastal Plains research station, which is infected with Panama TR4,” said Bob Williams, the Northern Territory’s director of plant industries.

“We wanted to see which of these [plants] could stand up to heavy [disease] pressure.

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