Venezuela confirms the presence of Fusarium Race 4 in plantations in three states

Fusarium Race 4 turns on alerts in the region again after the plague was confirmed in Venezuela, the third country to present the plague on the continent.

The fungus had already been detected, in 2019, in the Colombian Guajira and in 2011 in the department of Piura, in Peru; However, Ecuador remains free of the plague, as confirmed on the afternoon of this Thursday, January 26, by the Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad), through a statement, in which it confirms that the plague is present in Venezuela. .

The private sector, through the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), also highlighted the arrival of the plague in Venezuelan territory, which in May 2021 had ruled out an alleged Fusarium outbreak in its territory. On its Twitter profile, the union announced the emergency declaration issued by the National Institute of Comprehensive Agricultural Health of Venezuela (INSAI).

Venezuela rules out Fusarium Race 4, while Ecuador reinforces controls on the border with Peru

This document specifies that Fusarium Race 4 was detected in the states of Aragua (Zamora and José Ángel Lamas municipalities), Carabobo (San Joaquín municipality), Cojedes (Anzoátegui municipality, Cojedes Parish), according to the results of the phytosanitary analyzes molecular, issued by the Virology and Plant Biotechnology laboratories of the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC).

Meanwhile, Agrocalidad highlighted that the plague is present in 22 countries, including Colombia, Peru and Venezuela; and informed that after the notification received from the Insai about the presence of the fungus in Venezuela, the controls in Ecuador were reinforced, such as barrier and control blocks, ports, airports and border crossings in continuous work.

The Agency highlighted that bananas represent 12% of the sources of work in the country.