Burrowing nematode and root lesion nematodes of banana
Roots show dark red to black lesions and snap easily, plants stay small with light bunches, and heavy plants topple over in wind or rain.
Crops it strikes
What you see
When to act
Before replanting and every few months, dig beside a few plants and split some roots lengthwise: red brown to black streaks in the outer root, many dead roots, small bunches or plants that topple mean the nematodes are costing yield. Treat or rest the field when many plants show this.
What to spray
- FluopyramFRAC 7ShopeeLazada
- FosthiazateIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- CarbofuranIRAC 1AShopeeLazada
- Bacillus (other) plus bacillus subtilisFRAC BM02 plus BM02ShopeeLazada
- CadusafosIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- OxamylIRAC 1AShopeeLazada
Active ingredients only, never brands. The FRAC group tells how it works: switch to a different group next time, so the disease does not learn to survive it. Spray only when the damage is worth the cost, and only with products registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for your crop. Follow the label. The Shopee and Lazada links only show who sells something with that active ingredient, not a recommendation of any seller or product.
Resistance: Soils treated again and again with the same organophosphate or carbamate nematicide learn to break it down fast, so it stops working. Rotate between fluopyram and an organophosphate, and lean on clean plantlets and fallow.
How to prevent it
- Plant tissue culture plantlets, or pare suckers to clean white tissue and dip them 20 to 30 seconds in boiling water before planting.
- On worn out ground, rest the field 10 to 12 months with no banana or weeds, or rotate with pineapple, then replant clean plantlets.
- Grow sunn hemp (Crotalaria) or marigold as a cover crop before banana. They hold nematode numbers down.
- Work compost or manure into the soil and mulch the mats. More roots grow and soil life eats the nematodes.
- Prop heavy bearing plants with bamboo poles in nematode ground so they do not topple before harvest.
- Open drains in wet ground. Waterlogged roots rot faster where nematodes feed.
Natural enemies and biological help
- Soil fungi and bacteria that attack nematodes (Purpureocillium, Trichoderma, Bacillus) do best in compost rich soil. They slow the nematodes but do not clear them.
Not sure it is this one?
Many diseases look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.