Fusarium wilt TR4 is currently not present in the Americas (including the Caribbean and Latin America) and it is essential to keep this disease out of the region.

Currently, global banana production is seriously threatened by the re-emergence of a Fusarium Wilt caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). In the 1950s, Panama disease or Foc Race 1 wiped out the Gros Michel banana industry in Central America and the Caribbean and production shifted to the resistant Cavendish cultivars. Unfortunately, a new strain of Foc called Tropical Race 4 (TR4) has overcome Foc resistance in the Cavendish clones. TR4 also impacts several Musa cultivars that are not susceptible to Foc Races 1 and 2, mostly grown by small farmers for local consumption and income generation.

The banana/plantain industry is the economic backbone (food security, regional/international trade) of many Caribbean countries. In order to raise awareness of the potential threat of Foc TR4 as a key step to prevent its introduction to the Caribbean, FAO Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean (FAO-SLC) provided funds to the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) via a Letter of Agreement (LOA). Under the LOA, two activities were implemented in Trinidad and Tobago in close collaboration with the Ministry of Food Production and the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. The first activity was a Sensitization Seminar held on 30 April 2014 and the second was a 5-day Training Workshop conducted from 5-9 May 2014.

The items being posted are the Presentations made during the Training Workshop, the Workshop Report and a Training Manual that was specifically prepared for the Workshop.

Titles of presentations:
0.    Final Report - Fusarium wilt activities in the Caribbean 28 April to 9 May 2014
1.    Fusarium Wilt Epidemiology, Prevention and Management
2.    Banana Diseases with emphasis on Exotics to the Americas
3.    History and impact of Foc on Banana
4.    Foc Symptoms and Sampling Procedures
5.    Isolation of Fusarium oxysporium f. sp.
6.    Evolution of Fusarium taxonomy
7.    Fusarium Vegetative compatibility
8.    Epidemiology of Foc
9.    Integrated Management of Fusarium wilt
10.    Basic Aspects of Molecular Biology and DNA Extraction
11.    Foc Research
12.    Phylogenetic Analysis and Applied Molecular
13.    Manual Fusarium wilt TR4 diagnostic - Final