Blood disease and panama disease: two newly introduced and grave threats to banana production on the island of New Guinea

摘要

Plant health surveys on the island of New Guinea are regularly conducted by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) in collaboration with the governments of PNG and Indonesia. Two lethal diseases of banana known previously to the west now jeopardise subsistence production and valuable germplasm resources. Blood disease, a bacterial wilt, has appeared very recently at Timika, Irian Jaya. The blood disease bacterium is spread extremely rapidly by insects, especially between cooking bananas. An explosive epidemic amongst the cooking bananas of Irian Jaya and PNG now threatens. Fusarium wilt of banana (Panama disease) is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum (Foc). Three different strains of Foc are now present in Irian Jaya and one of these occurs also in border regions of PNG. Movement of infected planting material poses the greatest danger. AQIS information campaigns are being implemented to reduce further spread of both diseases.