Farmers bemoan loss of banana trees

Kasparman Piliang, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra

Tens of thousands of banana trees in West Sumatra have died after reportedly being infected by bacteria and parasites, causing farmers to lose their crops.

There is still no way to stop the spread of the bacteria and parasites, except to uproot infected trees and bury them deep in the ground.

Alam Sati, 38, owns a one-and-a-half-hectare banana plantation in Padang Laring subdistrict, Koto Aur Malintang subdistrict, Padang Pariaman regency, West Sumatra.

About 800 of his trees have yellowing leaves and are about to die. For years, Sati has been relying on profits from his banana crop. His only hope now is to wait for the coconut and papaya harvests, though prices for these crops have dropped recently.

Sati said that at first he did not consider the disease to be a serious matter when he saw one or two leaves turn yellow and eventually die.

But when the disease engulfed nearly his entire plot of land, he had to do a hard rethink. He watched his trees die daily, powerless to stop the carnage. The bananas were also affected by the disease, turning yellow before they were ripe.

Thousands of other farmers in West Sumatra were also affected by the disease.

Since 1997, West Sumatra has been known for its bananas. That was the year thousands of farmers switched to bananas, as bananas from the province began to be recognized by the domestic and foreign markets.

Farmers preferred to plant bananas because it is a fast- yielding crop. Data from the West Sumatra Plant Protection Center (BPT) shows that 30,000 farmers cleared away land to make way for banana plantations. About 75 percent of these farmers are now, like Sati, watching their trees die.

According to Djoni, the head of West Sumatra's BPT, the disease, which had affected almost the entire banana tree population in West Sumatra, has been around for a long time but has only been felt in the past three years.

There are about 4,000 hectares of banana plantations in West Sumatra, which normally yield almost 100,000 tons of bananas a year. However, the banana harvests have dwindled as the disease has taken its increasingly heavy toll.

One hectare of land can hold 600 banana trees, four to five trees per cluster. According to the BPT's calculations, more than 500,000 clusters have been affected by the disease.

Djoni said that according to studies by the BPT, there are two causes for the destruction of the banana trees. First, trees are being infected by Fusarium fungus. Early symptoms are mature leaves turning yellow. If there are mature leaves that are still green, their stems will droop because they have already decayed. This condition causes black spots on the bananas.

There is also the presence of Pseudomonas solanacearum bacteria, symptoms of which can be seen right after the banana blossoms appear. At the onset, leaves change color and leaf stems are a brownish yellow.

This condition continues until the fruit are almost ripe. Then the leaves turn yellow and if the fruit is cut, a brownish red liquid can be seen.

Djoni said that neither the fungus or the bacteria were spread through the soil. Rather, they may be spread by tools like machetes that have been used to fell other infected banana trees. They also could have been borne by insects or from seedlings brought in from outside the area.

There are indications, according to Djoni, that the bacteria in West Sumatra may have come from barangan bananas imported from overseas. In 1996, many farmer wanted to cultivate the barangan type of banana.

"They competed with each other to plant the imported bananas as the fruits were far bigger and much in demand. We didn't suppose the bananas would bring any viruses. It's like the AIDS virus that infects humans," he said.

It was estimated in March that the worst-hit area has been Tanah Datar regency, which has 566 hectares of banana plantations.

Djoni said the disease still could not be contained. Early prevention can only be accomplished through control, with priority given to inoculation.

If the disease is detected in a banana cluster, the source of inoculation should be destroyed by uprooting the tree then burying it deep in the ground, and only after that will new and healthy seedlings be planted, he said.