Banana Disease Threat Sparks Urgent National Forum in Belmopan

Today saw the closure of the National Forum on Fusarium TR4 in Belmopan.  The event was made possible through the partnership involving the Ministry of Agriculture, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the International Regional Organization for Health in Agriculture (OIRSA). Fusarium TR4, a devastating soil-borne disease, poses a serious threat to banana crops in Belize.  Our Belmopan Correspondent Ljay Wade was at the closing ceremony and filed the following report. 

In related news, Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) technical mission is deploying cutting-edge technology, including drones and biochips, to assist Guatemala and Belize in their critical battle against Fusarium wilt, commonly known as Panama disease. This initiative comes as at an important time as the spread of the fusarium is threatening the banana industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region where both Guatemala and Belize collectively export an impressive US$1 billion in bananas annually. Fusarium oxysporum, the fungus responsible for Panama disease, was first detected in Colombia in 2019 and has since spread to Peru and Venezuela by 2023. Its continued northward advance poses a severe threat to Central America’s crucial banana production.  A recent seminar held in Guatemala City served as a platform to share Taiwan’s advanced plant disease prevention strategies. Professor Wang Gou-jen of National Chung Hsing University explained how Taiwan utilizes drones fitted with Nvidia AI chips to monitor crop areas. These sophisticated drones employ image recognition and artificial intelligence to detect anomalies, uploading data to cloud servers or mobile devices, thereby enabling swift responses from farmers to potential plant issues.  Further highlighting Taiwan’s technological prowess, Professor Chang Cheng-chung of National Chung Hsing University showcased the development of biochips. These biochips, powered by big data, offer rapid detection of pests and pesticide residue, a significant improvement over previous labor-intensive laboratory tests that could only analyze one pesticide at a time over several days.  The seminar also generated considerable interest in a rapid screening kit for Fusarium wilt developed by National Taiwan University Professor Hung Ting-hsuan. //////