Abstract:
It has been suggested that the most suitable short-term strategy to control Musa viruses in Africa is the deployment of available field tolerant genotypes. Three lITA hybrids that were originally selected for resistance to black sigatoka leaf streak and good horticultural characteristics were found to exhibit lower virus symptoms in multiplication plots relative to other cultivars having up to 90 percent virus incidence. These cultivars, PITA-14 (tested as TMPx 7152-2), BITA-3 (TMBx 5295-1), and PITA-17 (TMPx 4479-1) were not observed to have BSV in partially purified minipreps examined using electron microscopy at QDPI. This study examines the use of rapid multiplication and distribution of field-tolerant genotypes to reduce farmers' losses due to BSV in Uganda. The study will also examine the acceptability of exotic genotypes to Ugandan farmers confronted by BSV and other banana pests. We report here on results of the first phase of this study, multiplication and distribution.