Yilo mango farmers attend Plant Health Rally

Plant-wise in collaboration with the Centre for Agricultural and Bioscience International (CABI) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Directorate has organised plant health rally (PHR) on mango bacterial black spot disease for mango farmers in the Yilo Krobo municipality.

Plant health rally is an extension strategy used to provide tailored information on specific pests or diseases and their management practices. Plant health rally also strengthens plant health clinics in equipping the farmers with information on how to manage plant health problems the farmers identify as major constraint to crop production.

The programme is modelled on human clinic system, where farmers who had infested plant materials or pests sent them to plant clinics where plant doctors would diagnose the problem and give appropriate management.

The lead facilitator, Mr Jerry Teye Nuertey, said the plant health rally was aimed at creating much awareness of the mango farmers about the mango bacterial black spot disease and fruit fly.

The rally was held in the Yilo Krobo Mango Farmers Resource Centre at Somanya, Trom, New Somanya, Akorley-Yiti, and Akorley-Trayonya all in the Yilo Krobo municipality.

The facilitators, Messrs Jerry Teye Nuertey, Plant doctor and Agric Extension Agent for Yilo Krobo, Francis Nii Clottey, Municipal Agric Officer for Crops and Mrs Hannah Serwa Nuamah, National Data Manager for PPRS Directorate, took the participants through the key symptoms of the bacterial, how the bacterial black spot disease is distinguished from anthracnose disease, mode of spread includ use of infested farm tools, rain drops, and splashes, management practices of the disease and use of certain chemicals for control measures.

The facilitators advised the mango farmers to avoid the transportion of infested plant materials (fruits, seedlings) and crates from one location to another during the harvesting season to limit the spread of the disease, eradicate the diseased trees when the disease was not widespread and pruning to improve aeration in existing orchards.

Other measures mango farmers should adopt are plant windbreak hedges, disinfect farm tools and clothings, avoid cultivation when the foliage is wet, prune and burn all infested plant parts that serve as sources of bacterial for reinfection, burn or bury the infested fruits, and use of copper based fungicides (curex 50 wp, Fungkill, Kentan, Kocide, Metam) and farmers to follow label instructions.

According to the Plant wise National Coordinator for Plant Protection Regulatory Service (PPRS) Directorate of MOFA, Mr. Christopher Gaitu data received at plant clinics indicated that bacterial black spot of mangoes was serious in Yilo Krobo, the largest mango producing area in the country.

He explained that the plant clinic concept was that averagely 30 per cent of all agriculture production was lost due to pest and disease infestations in the field and in storage.

He said that was manifested in the plant wise slogan “Losses less, feed more” in order to help the farmers to reduce their losses to pests and disease infestations.

Mr Gaitu said there were good planting materials around and the main limitation to yield were water, nutrients, pests and diseases which plant clinic concept was addressing nationwide.

The CABI Country Coordinator, Plant-wise, West Africa, Ms Birgitta Opong-Mensah advised Yilo Krobo MoFA to integrate the programme, expand, sustain and create additional support in order to owe it in the municipality.

She, however, pledged additional support from Plant-wise should Yilo Krobo MOFA owe the programme and sustain it.

The Yilo Krobo Municipal Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr Philip K. Awuah, was grateful to Plant-wise for the timely Plant health rally which would address the problems mango farmers in the municipality were facing.

He said the mango bacterial black spot disease was really a challenge to the Yilo Krobo mango farmers.

He assured that the effort of plant wise would not be in vain as Yilo MOFA would constantly be in touch with the farmers for more education and directives so as to eliminate the disease in the municipality.

A participant at Akorley – Trayonya, Mr Martin Teyewayo, urged Plant-wise and MOFA to jointly research into the mango bacterial spot disease in order to eliminate the disease entirely to increase their mango yields.