Progress from Fusarium The fourth race worries the countries of the region that grow bananas, which will analyze the impact of the plague at the Ninth International Banana Congress, which will be held from May 23 to 26 in Miami, USA, in which Ecuador will also participate.

The event, organized by the Costa Rican Banana Corporation (Corbana), had not been held in four years, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The General Manager of the Corporation, Jorge Sauma, and Marienella Ubilla, President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), were in charge of announcing the Congress this Thursday, March 9 morning, through a virtual conference.

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

Along with the announcement, Sauma anxiously recalled the progression Fusarium Race 4, which has been present in Colombia since August 2019, in Peru since April 2021, and in Venezuela since January this year; and the threat it poses to the 500 million people who depend on this activity worldwide.

Meanwhile, Ubilla confirmed that so far Ecuador, the region’s biggest banana producer, is free of the plague, although he also warned that biosecurity measures implemented on farms to prevent the fungus from entering are affecting the cost of producing the fruit.

According to Ubilla, depending on the infrastructure that can be implemented on each farm, the cost of biosecurity measures is between $0.08 and $0.13 per box of bananas, which he described as a very large impact on Ecuadorian fruit in international markets that are increasingly willing to pay less. , a situation that led Ecuador and other producing countries in the region to promote a fair price initiative that seeks to make markets, especially European ones, recognize these values ​​in the price they pay for the fruit.

Weather and high demand in destinations, due to the cold season, favored bananas in January with 5.41% higher exports

“We share the same concern as the countries of Central America. Since it was first discovered in the region, in Colombia, in 2019; Four years have passed since the last confirmation in Venezuela and Ecuador has redoubled its efforts in biosecurity protocols,” said Ubilla, who added that the sector’s main goal is also to try to maintain production levels at acceptable levels.

The Congress will also look at different alternatives in terms of pest resistant and tolerant varieties. Sauma, for example, predicted that the progress of a pilot genetic improvement plan being developed on plots in Brazil and Costa Rica would be demonstrated.

Ubilla, for his part, noted that AEBE works with the academic community and the public sector. For example, with the National Institute for Agricultural Research (Iniap) he assured that they are working with tests of imported material – the variety Formosana 218 – which adapts to the climatic conditions of Ecuador.

Meanwhile, with the Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador of Espol (CIBE), they are also working on genetics to discover new resistant varieties.

The banana sector requests that the import of another variety that tolerates Fusarium race 4 be accelerated

Another topic of interest to Congress, Sauma added, is changes in consumption trends and prices of bananas in destination markets.

Regarding the prices, Ubilla indicated that they are “still acceptable”, noting that Ecuador has reached various non-traditional destinations such as South Korea, Japan, China, Dubai, among others; although he admitted that due to the lack of productivity, Ecuador could not meet 100% of the demand in these destinations.

“Until the 20th week, if Ecuador recovers that productivity, we can supply those markets, but they will not be saturated,” explained the president of the AEBE Board of Directors, who analyzed that not only the supply regulates the markets, but also the demand. which is currently trending down as well as prices due to climate change.

“We have to measure this situation day by day,” said Ubilla, who revealed that the rains Ecuador is currently suffering have also affected supplies.