Viral Diseases of Banana

From the preface: Banana is one of the important fruit crops grown in the tropical and subtropical regions in the developing countries. India is the largest producer of banana and plantains with a production of 29.78 million tonnes from an area of 0.830 million hectares, contributing nearly one-third of global banana production. With the adoption of advanced technologies like drip irrigation, use of quality tissue culture plants, fertigation and integrated plant protection technologies lead the country to be number one in the area and production. However, banana cultivation continues to face several pests and diseases which affect the production and productivity constantly. Viral diseases are a major constraint to production because it affects the yield and quality, and also in the international exchange of Musa germplasm. Among the viral diseases, bunchy top disease caused by banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), bract mosaic caused by banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV), streak caused by banana streak virus (BSV) and banana mosaic caused by cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) diseases are nationally important since it is prevalent in all the banana growing regions of the country causing significant reduction in the yield.

This technical guide covers various information on diseases caused by banana viruses and their distribution, symptoms, virus characterization, mode of spread, host range and management. This bulletin will be very useful and quite informative and would benefit banana farming community and the tissue culture banana producers to increase banana production and productivity in India.