Abstract

Plantains are an important subsistence food crop throughout the rain forest zone of West Africa. Recently, black sigatoka disease, a variant of the common yellow leaf spot of plantains and bananas, was identified for the first time in Africa, in Gabon and South Cameroon. This disease is expected to spread widely in Africa and cause serious losses in the production of both plantains and bananas. In phase I of this project, work was started on measures to counter the serious threat posed by the spreading black sigatoka disease to the whole plantain and banana crops in Cameroon. The general objective of phase II is to develop improved cultivars, agronomic techniques and marketing systems for small-scale producers of plantains, bananas and associated crops. Continuing work begun in phase I, researchers will test and select plantain cultivars for high and stable yield, and disease and pest resistance.

Post-Project Summary

A post-project abstract could not be written because of insufficient project documentation.

Recipient Institution(s)