The local banana industry is set to get a boost with the training of some six banana farmers which will equip them with valuable skills in banana diagnostics and surveillance.

Janet Conie, general manager of the Jamaica Banana Board, revealed that the farmers will be trained to use the Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) diagnostic tool.

She said the regional training is part of the wider regional food security efforts as banana remain an
important part of the diet of persons within the region as well as an export commodity.

“It’s used to determine whether you have Tropical Race Four (TR4) disease in the field. We can do it in the field rather than taking the samples back to the lab to confirm. It’s not a tool that we use on an everyday basis, but it’s a tool that we use to confirm diagnosis if we suspect something,” she said.

Regionally, Jamaica is among several countries and territories participating in the training programme, including Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Dominica, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Conie said the French Agricultural Research Department (CIRAD) will run the five-day training.

Being held from April 15 to 19 at the Life Sciences Department of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, the workshop will train at least 15 persons from across the region.

“In addition to TR4, training will look at some of the other major diseases that are not yet in some of the islands, such as the Banana Bunchy Top Disease, which is a virus not yet in Jamaica. It’s also a very dangerous disease because we cannot get rid of that once it comes. Another disease is the Banana Bract Mosaic virus. That too is not in this region. Of course, there is the Moko disease which has existed in the region, but they are not in some of the territories of the Caribbean,” Conie said.

The training has been endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and is being funded by the Caribbean Plant Health Directors (CPHD) Forum, in its role as the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), the Regional Plant Protection Organisation (RPPO).

The CPHD plays a vital role in identifying, developing, coordinating and safeguarding efforts in the Caribbean against emerging pest threats.