The possibility of the spread of Fusarium Foc R4T, which attacks banana crops and other Musaceae, is of concern to the region. With this in mind, the General Secretariat of the Andean Community and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) signed an agreement to strengthen this production sector.
“Although the current phytosanitary status of this pest in the CAN countries is present under official control in Colombia and Peru, and absent in Ecuador and Bolivia, the possibility of its spread is a regional concern,” the secretariat said in a statement.
News of a new epidemic appeared in Peru a few days ago.
The agreement will promote the development and implementation of regional strategies and instruments that support the Andean countries in increasing the capacity of all participants in the Musaceae chain.
Areas of mutual cooperation will focus on specific surveillance of this pest, sustainable integrated disease management, agricultural biosecurity, capacity building and development, contingency plans and harmonized protocols, phytosanitary measures and field exercises. The contract does not imply the transfer of funds between the parties.
With thirteen drones, artificial intelligence is already being applied to monitor banana, plantain and orita crops in nine provinces
Among the modalities of joint cooperation, it will be possible to develop artificial intelligence models based on applications of mobile devices and platforms for the early detection of this disease, create spaces for dialogue between different sectors and participants in the banana supply chain to harmonize and implement biosecurity protocols and contingency plans at the regional level, among other actions.
This agreement builds on the actions that CAN carries out in this matter: The Regional Phytosanitary Intelligence Center is in the implementation phase and the project “Regional standardization of Fusarium diagnosis” is progressing, which includes the development of four components: equalization of capacities, standardization of the diagnostic protocol, interlaboratory tests and strengthening of capacities.
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Source: Eluniverso
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