In most regions of the world, nematodes are recognized as important pests of bananas. Because banana nematodes attack the root and/or corm tissues, plant growth and yield are affected. The objective of these technical guidelines is to stimulate interest in nematode resistance and tolerance screening in bananas, and toprovide a methodology for carrying out such screening: plant material, nematode inoculum, screening experiments in pots or in the field, nematode reproduction assessment, and damage assessment.
Banana is the most popular fruit in terms of per capita consumption and world's most widely traded fruit.Worldwide, nematodes are considered as the most important pest of bananas and plantains.The burrowing nematode, root-lesion nematode and root-knot nematode are economically important.The cost of nematode management using nematicides is quite prohibitive.Availability of nematode resistant or tolerant Musa cultivars could contribute to improve the productivity at a lesser cost with no pollution.More concerted efforts to identify nematode resistant or tolerant Musa genotypes is needed.The study aims at identifying nematode resistant diploid and triploid accessions, investigating histological and biochemical basis of resistance and identification of RAPD markers associated with the nematode resistance.The findings have been published in a book form entitled "Screening of Banana Germplasm for resistance and tolerance to nematodes."The key findings indicated that some of the accessions showed multiple resistance to nematodes.This book would be much useful to horticulturists, pathologists, biotechnologists, studen ts involved in biotic stress research, banana growers
Proceedings of the workshop divided in three session: 1) Opportunities for conventional breeding for resistance to nematodes of banana and plantain; 2) Current approaches and future opportunities for improving major Musa types in Asia/Pacific regions; 3) Banana research in Malaysia.
ALL the major banana cultivars are susceptible to Radopholus similis, Pratylenchus coffeace, P. goodeyi, Helicotylenchus multicintus and Meloidogyne spp. that singly, or in association, are a major constraint to production in all banana-grwing regions. Observed differences in susceptibility suggest that some cultivars are less severely affected than others, but the reasons for this tolerance remain to be discovered. Resistance to R. similis is established in the Pisang Jari Buaya (PJB) group of Musa AA clones and synthetic diploids are now being used in banana and plantain breeding programmes. Unfortunately, this resistance does not extend to P coffeae and its effectiveness against P. goodeyi is unknown. The effectiveness and durability of this resistance intetraploids derived from PJB parents will need to be evaluated, as will the pathogenicity of R. similis populations from different locations. A second, relatively unexplored, approach may be the selection of hibrids with vigorous root systems. Differences in root development between genomic groups need to be correlated with nematode invasion and population growth. The development of resistant and tolerant cultivars by somatic mutation remains an unfulfilled speculation. A method for rapidly screening somatic mutants should be developed.
