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Spatial pattern of Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense) in banana fields
Eduardo Mizubuti: Universidade Federal de Vicosa; Emerson Del Ponte: Universidade Federal de Vicosa; Miguel A Dita Rodriguez: Embrapa; Daniel W. Heck: Universidade Federal de Vicosa
<div>Management of Fusarium wilt (FW) or Panamá disease of bananas depends on properly understanding the dynamics of the disease in time and space. Nevertheless, analyses of the spatial pattern of FW are scarce. The objectives of this work were to estimate disease intensity and to investigate the spatial pattern of FW. Thirty fields planted with ‘Silk’, ‘Pome’ or ‘Cavendish’ banana subgroups, totalling 91 ha, were evaluated. In each field, all plants were inspected and symptomatic plants were geo-referenced. Incidence maps were constructed and quadrat-based and point-process distance-based methods were used to investigate the spatial pattern of the disease. FW incidence varied from 0.03 to 45.3%. The average incidence of FW in fields planted to ‘Cavendish’ (3 fields), 'Pome' (17), and 'Silk' (10) was 2.9%, 7.7%, and 20.0%, respectively. Aggregation of FW was detected by all analytical methods in 50% of the fields (3 of 'Cavendish', 7 of 'Pome' and 5 of 'Silk'). In the other 15 fields (10 of ‘Pome' and 5 of 'Silk') a total of 135 tests were conducted: 95 revealed aggregation and 40 randomness. In the Vale do Ribeira region, a traditional banana producing area, FW was aggregated in all sampled fields (N=4). Overall, aggregation was detected in 85% of the tests. The incidence of FW in bananas fields in Brazil is high and native populations of <em>F</em>. <em>oxysporum</em> f. sp. <em>cubense </em>already present in the fields seem to be driving the spatial distribution of FW.</div>

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