Bacterial wilt disease has wiped out 20% of banana plants in Uganda's Ntungamo District, and threatens another 60%.
Ntungamo is the third highest producer of matooke in western Uganda, after Isingiro and Bushenyi. More than 90 per cent of the families in the district depend on matooke (plantain) for
food, while another 60 per cent depend on it for income. In Uganda banana is not just a desert food, but an important staple crop.
Reports the Monitor, Ntungamo district agricultural officer Moses Sabiti said, “More than 60 per cent of the gardens may get the infection in less than
a year if the disease control system is taken for granted.”
African Agriculture