IMPORTANCE OF BLACK LEAF STREAK CONTROL IN ‘PISANG BERANGAN’ (AAA) IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Black leaf streak, caused by Mycosphaerella fijiensis, is the most destructive leaf disease of ‘Pisang Berangan’ (AAA) in Malaysia.
It leads to significant decline in yield and fruit quality due to reduction of photosynthetic sites in the functional leaves.
Several fungicides, such as benomyl, tridemorph, mancozeb and propiconazole, were evaluated for their potential to control the disease in ‘Pisang Berangan’. Propiconazole was effective in reducing the disease, with treated plants having an average of 15.6 functional leaves as compared to 8.0 functional leaves in untreated plants at 4 months after treatment.
Spraying propiconazole alone, or alternating with benomyl or mancozeb at monthly intervals, resulted in an increase in bunch weight from 15.7 kg per bunch for untreated plants to 21.3 kg following treatment with one or more fungicides.
Spraying benomyl alone also improved the bunch weight to 18.4 kg.
Generally, effective black leaf streak control with the above fungicides resulted in yield improvements of about 17.2-36.0% and increases in incomes of 23.6-46.6%.

V International Symposium on Banana: ISHS-ProMusa Symposium on Global Perspectives on Asian Challenges

K.H. Then, S. Palaniappan

functional leaves, yield, profit

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.897.67