30% of Ecuadorian Banana Production is Affected by Sigatoka Negra

This fungus damages the banana leaf and prevents the fruit from growing the minimun lenght of 20 cm required for exportation.

The banana production leader of Chirijo, Milagro, Julio Cruz Escudero, says the fruit production of farms has declined by 30% due to the Sigatoka Negra fungus.

The Sigatoka Negra is a fungus that appeared in 1987 in Ecuador. This fungus damages the banana leaf and prevents the fruit from growing the minimun lenght of 20 cm required for exportation.

Due to this situation the banana crate exportation to international markets has decreased from 5’398 510 boxes to 900,000 boxes, according to statistics from the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE for its Spanish acronym).

Yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries (MAGAP for its Spanish acronym), gave free fungicide kits to hundreds of farmers in the Guayas, El Oro and Los Rios provinces.

Training Brigades travel through the plantations for training small farmers on how to mechanically spray the given chemical kits. (MZ)