Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agricultural Research RDMIC Bldg., Elliptical Rd. Cor. Visayas Ave., Diliman, Q.C. 1104 Phone Nos.: (632) 928-8624 & 928-8505 À Fax: (632) 927-5691 Email: [email protected] À Website: http//www.bar.gov.ph PROJECT TERMINAL REPORT A. BASIC INFORMATION 1. Title of the Project Project 1. Mitigating Banana Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 Through a Farmer-participatory Approach of Developing Disease Management Strategies. Project 2. Enhancing Capacities of Farmers, Extension Agents and Local Researchers Towards the Effective Management of Foc for Small-Scale Cavendish Banana Sector 2. Proponent Dr. Agustin B. Molina Jr. Regional Coordinator Bioversity International-Asia-Pacific Office 3/F Khush Hall, IRRI, Los Baños, Laguna (63) 49 536 0532; (63) 2 580 5600 Ext. 2874 (63) 49 536 0532 [email protected] 3. Implementing Agency 3.1. Lead Agency Bioversity International 3.2. Collaborating Agency Dr. Lorna Herradura Agriculture Center Chief IV Bureau of Plant Industry-Davao National Crop Research and Development Center (BPI-DNCRDC) Dr. Susan T. Razo Officer In-Charge Integrated Laboratory Division Department of Agriculture XI 1 Dr. Lavernee Gueco University Researcher Institute of Plant Breeding Crop Science Cluster, College of Agriculture University of the Philippines Los Baños 4031 College, Laguna Farmer-Cooperators 4. Funding Agency Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) 5. Budget Project 1. PhP 9,667,876 ($224,834) Project 2. PhP 5,536,832 ($126,464) 6. Project Duration 3 years (2012-2016) Jan- September 2016 (9-month extension) 7. Project Location Davao Provinces (Region 11) 8. Date Covered by this Report September 2012 to June 2016 2 Executive Summary Epidemics of Fusarium wilt caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) in Cavendish plantations in the Philippines (Molina et al 2008) are a serious concern to the sustainability of the Philippine banana industry. The Philippines is the major banana exporter in Asia with its more than 80,000 hectares of Cavendish plantations, grown by both big companies and small growers. In 2014, the country registered its highest ever export earnings from the banana export. Small growers are more vulnerable because they lack technical capabilities to manage the disease and financial resources to sustain losses to the disease compared to big growers. Although there is no verified industry data of the actual extent of epidemics, the association of small growers reported that about 3,000 hectares have been abandoned due to severe infection, and around 6,000 hectares are infested in various levels of incidence. Both adaptation to the new threat and mitigation of damage have been the priority of Bioversity International and its partners in the Banana Asia-Pacific Network. The use of a disease-resistant variety finds its place as a part of the integrated approach of disease management. Bioversity carried out a series of field evaluations in public-private partnerships of resistant Cavendish somaclones that were shared by the Taiwan Banana Research Institute. Results of earlier trials showed that giant Cavendish tissue culture cultivar (GCTCV) 219 was most resistant among the tested GCTCVs even when planted in severely affected areas. A project was later developed with Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) where GCTCV 219 was out-scaled among small growers with the aim of evaluating, promoting and adopting GCTCV 219 by them, thus rehabilitating severely affected farms. Twenty growers participated in the pilot trials, where seedlings of GCTCV 219 were distributed free to collaborators for planting. In those trials, GCTCV 219 proved highly resistant to Foc TR4. Consequently, it was recommended for the rehabilitation of severely affected and abandoned farms of small growers. It delivered acceptable yields to cooperators who provided good care to the plants such as proper fertilization and population control, much better than simply abandoning their farms, as Grande Naine was no longer productive because it was highly susceptible to Foc TR4. In spite of its relatively inferior yield performance, GCTCV 219 is sweeter than Grand Naine; applying this advantage, some growers developed a special package for a niche market in Japan. GCTCV 219 is taller, longer-maturing, has lower box-stem ratio and is more of a floater and thus prone to yield decline with time. Growers are satisfied with the level of disease resistance of GCTCV 219, but low productivity and fruit quality remain as main concerns. Subsequent replicated trials conducted with Lapanday Fruits Corp showed that another resistant somaclone, GCTCV 218 had high potential for adoption. GCTCV 218 was moderately resistant to Foc TR4, but yield, agronomic traits, and postharvest characteristics were closer 3 to those of Grand Naine. In commercial trials carried out with Lapanday, GCTCV 218 and 219 remained resistant even after 4 ratoons, while Grande Naine became severely infected even in the primary crop. GCTV 218, moderately resistant to Foc TR4, is more acceptable to growers. It has big bunches and thus high box-stem ratio, and fruit quality is as good as Grand Naine. Fruits can be packed and ripened together with Grand Naine, and are acceptable in current markets. Agronomically, GCTCV 218 is taller than Grand Naine, similar to Tall Williams, but has longer maturity by two to three weeks. Overall, GCTCV 218 is more acceptable by both small growers and big companies. As an outcome of this project, GCTCV 218 is now commercially used in rehabilitating severely affected farms, and is a part of the integrated program in reducing spread and severity of Foc TR4 infestations. Big companies through their own tissue culture laboratories are now mass- producing millions of GCTCV 218 towards rehabilitation. To date, more than 1,000 hectares have been replanted. Meanwhile, the Philippines government has launched a PhP 100 million-plus program to help small growers to rehabilitate affected farms and sustain livelihoods by an integrated approach around the use of GCTCV 218 and 219. Additionally, the planting of these varieties with tissue culture seedlings at a commercial scale provides an opportunity for recurrent selection for more improved phenotypes. While prevention of incursion to unaffected areas is the fundamental approach of Fusarium wilt management, where epidemics are causing damage in banana plantations, currently the use of available resistant varieties is the only major option to manage epidemics. In the absence of other varieties from other breeding programs, the available GCTCVs are the best our farmers could have at this time to save their livelihoods. It is highly important that their livelihoods be protected now. The success of the GCTCVs highlights the effectiveness of tissue culture somaclonal variant selection as an approach to banana improvement. This is contrary to the articulations of some molecular scientists that only through the GMO approach can a resistant variety be developed. 4 This report covers the conduct of the following two projects from September 2012 to June 2016: Project 1. Mitigating Banana Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 through a Farmer- Participatory Approach of Developing Disease Management Strategies Project 2. Enhancing Capacities of Farmers, Extension Agents and Local Researchers towards the Effective Management of Foc for Small-Scale Cavendish Banana Sector Recent announcements by the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) and the independent growers' cooperatives indicated that many farms were now severely affected by the deadly Fusarium wilt of banana caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4). The industry sought help from the government to address this serious threat and mitigate losses. If uncontrolled, the pathogen Foc TR4 could potentially wipe out the whole banana industry in these islands, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars (PhP 720 million/ US$ 14.6 million) per annum in the export of the Cavendish variety. That would have deprived 320,000 people of direct employment, mostly small-scale independent growers. It is very important to note that almost 50% of the Cavendish for export is grown by these small growers, who are thus greatly adversely affected. Project 1 was designed to generate integrated disease management strategies, including early diagnosis and appropriate eradication techniques, via active farmer participation. Field plantings of Cavendish cultivars previously developed in Taiwan to be resistant to Foc TR4. These were the GCTCV 218 and GCTCV 219 cultivars, which were subsequently found to be resistant to the disease in preliminary field trials conducted by Bioversity International with a commercial company. The subsequent plantings were carried out as a farmer-participatory field selection process to further improve the varieties in the field. In conjunction with Project 1, Project 2 was conducted to enhance the capacities of farmers, extension agents and local researchers towards the effective management of Foc TR4 for the small-scale Cavendish banana sector, as this was the one deeply affected by the Fusarium wilt disease. Towards this end, Farmers' Field Days were conducted, each one building on the concept that farmers learn optimally through participatory learning and direct observation. In field visits, farmers had the opportunities to exchange ideas, experiences and to actually witness what was