Resistance of banana cultivars against <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp<i>. cubense</i> in southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Fusarium wilt caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp . cubense (Foc) is one of the major threats challenging the banana industry in tropics including Ethiopia. Foc infects the xylem, induces wilt, and kills banana plants. Hence, it affects the production and productivity of both commercial and local banana cultivars. In southern Ethiopia where banana is dominantly grown, it is considered as an emerging disease due to its extensive distribution across districts and consequences on the livelihood of the producers. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of commercial banana cultivars against the disease at Arba Minch Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia. In 2021–2022, an experiment was conducted involving seven commercial banana cultivars in completely randomized design with factorial arrangement with three replications. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by artificially inoculating 6‐month‐old seedlings of white Habesha cultivar obtained from Melkasa Agricultural Research Center and raised in polythene bags. Observations of external leaf symptoms and internal rhizome discoloration were made to determine the responses of the cultivars and evaluated using standard scales of leaf symptom index and rhizome discoloration index. Data on incubation period, disease incidence, and percent severity index were collected and subjected to the analysis of variance using the SAS software version 9.2, and means were compared using least significant difference test ( α = 0.01). The result obtained from the responses of the cultivars showed that William 01 and Grand Naine hybrids were categorized as resistant, but Poyo and Ducasse hybrids were categorized as susceptible and highly susceptible, respectively. The analysis also revealed that Butuzua, Giant Cavendish, and Dwarf Cavendish hybrids were found to be tolerant to the disease. In addition, the analysis of variance indicated that incubation period and severity values ranged from 10 to 46 and 13.33% to 63.33%, respectively. Therefore, it is recommended that those susceptible and highly susceptible cultivars should be replaced by the resistant ones to reduce the devastation posed by the disease, and tolerant cultivars could be maintained in production with the implementation of effective integrated disease management practices. It is also suggested that, due to the limitations inherent to banana genetics, breeding disease‐resistant bananas, including the Cavendish dessert banana, represents a middle‐ to long‐term strategy as a future research direction in the study area and other tropical countries where the pathogen is the most prevalent.