Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud is calling for urgent regional action to combat the deadly fungal disease, Black Sigatoka, which is currently affecting the plantain and banana industry in the region.

This effort will require the cooperation of all stakeholders, including researchers, regional institutions and farmers, GINA stated yesterday.

The agriculture minister in a letter to several agencies and CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Edwin Carrington, requested that resources be made available to mount a regional response through an appropriate mechanism.

According to GINA, he stated that there are reports of serious infestation in the Windward Islands, especially in Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Other countries including St. Lucia, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are also suspected to be affected.

Meanwhile, in Guyana it was noted that this is no different since significant acreages of plantain and banana have been affected by a suspected Black Sigatoka outbreak.

The agriculture ministry has embarked on a series of activities, including disease identification, disease assessment in fields, disease management strategies and training of staff and farmers.

The ministry has also convened an urgent meeting with its chief scientists to review the situation and craft an action plan in collaboration with related regional institutions/agencies, Minister Persaud said.

And these activities are being coordinated by the newly- created MUSA Disease Management Unit, under the umbrella of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI).

The plantain and banana industry is a very significant source of revenue for farmers, especially vulnerable smallholders.

If the problem is not addressed urgently, it will result in the loss of foreign exchange earnings and consequently the livelihoods of farmers, he noted.

Bananas rank among the most valuable of agricultural export crops in several CARICOM countries, including Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname, where thousands of tonnes per year enter trade.

Stabroek News recently reported Region Three farmers complaining about severe losses to a banana and plantain disease believed to be Black Sigatoka.