Presentation at the RTB Annual Review and Planning Meeting (Entebbe, Uganda, 29 Sep-3 Oct 2014)

1. Banana bunchy top disease:
Piloting containment and field recovery approaches
through a learning alliance in sub-Saharan Africa
Lava Kumar, Charles Staver et al.
RTB Annual Meeting
30 Sep 2014, Entebbe, Uganda

2. Outline
 What do we know?
 Need for the Alliance
 RTB complimentary
grant
 Progress
 Lessons
 Next steps

3. Banana bunchy top disease
©Lava Banana aphid
•Genus Babuvirus, family Nanoviridae
• Infects members of Musaceae and Ensete
•Vectored by the banana aphid,
Pentalonia nigronervosa (circulative)
• Listed among the top 100 global threats to
biodiversity

4. Banana bunchy top disease
>50% production affected
DRC, Congo, Gabon,
Burundi Equatorial Guinea,
and Malawi .
Ca, <10 - 20% production
affected
Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin,
Zambia, Angola, Rwanda,
CAR and Egypt

5. BBTD impact in SSA
About 70% decline in production in ca. 20 year

6. Quantitative data on yield losses not available
“Production declined from truck load to cycle load”.
•Between 1994–2000 Cavendish banana production declined by 80% in central and
southern Malawi. Farmers shifted to maize
•BBTV blamed for destruction of 60 percent of the crop in Malawi.

7. Containment and recovery is critical to
avert further spread and losses
Primary foci
Secondary foci
Risk countries
(close proximity to BBTV
inoculum)

8. Alliance for BBTD control in Africa
RTB funded planning grant (2012)

9. Alliance for BBTD control in Africa
• Pilot integrated community approaches for
recovering banana production
• Establish strategies to ensure low-cost, healthy
planting material production
• Develop tools for disease surveillance and
monitoring recovery
• Understanding disease epidemiology, farming
systems for effective containment and recovery
BBTD containment and
recovery: Building
capacity and piloting
field recovery
approaches through a
learning alliance
(2013-16)
Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo, Burundi and Malawi

10. Project team
Lava Kumar, R. Hanna,
H. Kirscht
IITA, Nigeria and Cameroon
C. Staver, A Rietveld, S.
Ajambo, G. Blomme
Bioversity International, Uganda and France
M-L. Iskra-Caruana CIRAD , France
C. Niyongere Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU),
Burundi
M. Soko Bvumbwe Research Station, Malawi
P. Mobambo Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DRC
B. Dhed’a Djailo Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, DRC
M. Z-Tachin and C. C.
Tossou
Université d’Abomey-Calavi and INRAB, Republic of Benin
C. Onyeani and S.
Akinyemi
Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services and National Institute
of Horticultural Research, Nigeria
AC Mvila Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, Congo
Brazzaville
M. Andeime Chercheur à l'Institut de Recherches Agronomiques et
Forestières (IRAF), Gabon
PhD Students: D Adediji, GH Vangu and B Ibanda

11. Project action sites
1. WA1 – Benin
2. WA2 – Nigeria
3. CA1 – Cameroon / Gabon
4. CA2 – Congo Republic
5. CA3 – DRC-Bas Congo
6. ECA1 – DRC - Kisangani
7. ECA 2 – Burundi
8. SA1 - Malawi
• 7 of 8 action sites established
Common actions
• High density disease distribution
map
• Awareness creation
• Eradication of infected mats
• Production & supply of clean
planting material
• Developing local capacity for
production of clean planting
material
• Understanding the gender and
generational dimensions in disease
control

12. Action site: DRC-Kisangani
Coordinator: B. Dhed’a Djailo (Univ. Kisangani)
©IITA
•Two sties in at Masako
•Community and farmer learning meetings held
•3 ha of BBTV free banana fields established
Coordinator: P Mobambo (Univ. Kinshasa)
• 3 sites in Kinshasa: UNIKIN Station and 2 villages
• 3 sites in Bas-Congo: INERA Station and 2 villages
• Clean sucker multiplication through macropropagation
(cv. Bubi and GrosMichelle)
• Participator trials with farmers

13. Action site: Cameroon
Coordinator: R. Hanna (IITA)
• Sites in three communities
• BBTD awareness campaign with workshop for all
affected communities.
• Multiplication of improved and local plantains for the
establishment of community fields.
• Established three 1-ha community fields (Sep 2014).

14. Action site: Burundi
Coordinator: C. Niyongere (ISABU)
• Baseline studies for BBTD incidence:
• Cibitoke Province: 48,3%
• Mugina commune: Gitebe (49.7%) and Rusagara (86,7%)
• Rugombo commune : Kagazi (30%) and Munyika (40%)
• Farmers’ groups: Mugina (4) and Rugombo (3) 74
households involved in disease management
• Two nurseries established in August 2014 in Rugombo &
Mugina

15. Action site: Malawi
Coordinator: M. M. Soko (Bvumbwe Research Station)
• Two sites established
• BBTD incidence 40% to 100%
• Loses of up to 100% in Cavendish which almost
extinct in the Nkhata Bay and Nkhotakota.
• Replanting done using tissue culture plantlets from
Vitropic, France, raised at Bvumbwe Research Station
• Total of 400 farmers, 200 in each district with 35% as
females (Nkhotakota and Nkhatabay)

16. Action site: Nigeria
Coordinators: C. Oniyani (NAQS) & S. Akinyemi (NIHORT)
• One community identified in Idiroko (Ogun state)
• BBTD awareness campaign with workshop for all
affected communities.
• Multiplication of local plantain Agbagba
Coordinators: M. Z-Tachin (UNIKAS) & C. Tossou (INRAB)
• Communities in Akpo-Missérété and Adjara
Established three 1-ha community fields
(September 2014).
• Community mobilization for field establishment

17. Addressing knowledge gaps
Host
x
virus
Vector
x
virus
Host
x
virus
Host
x
virus
Spread of the disease
1
2
3
4
5
How long does it take to be a plant reservoir after infection? 1-2
Studies on virus multiplication, movement and accumulation in plant
Is possible the emergence of a severe BBTV strains? 3-4-
Studies on viral evolution and studies on biological role of recombinants
How long is the recovery of BBTV free zones? 5-
Studies on epidemiology
Is it possible to have/find tolerance? 6.
Studies on epigenetic regulations of the viral multiplication

18. •Understanding selection pressure and
recombination events
•Within a plant
•Within a field
•Within a location
•Within the country
•Characterizing all the six segments of
BBTV genome in each target country
Understanding BBTV evolution
BBTV-C-BENIN
BBTV-C-Idologun43
BBTV-C-Ibola5
BBTV-C-Mende76
JQ820463|BBTV-Rwanda-138
JQ820469|BBTV-Rwanda-142
JQ820457|BBTV-Malawi-73
JN250597|BBTV-SriLanka-Kandy
JF957681|BBTV-Tonga-310
67
88
FJ609643|BBTV-India-Bihar
AM418564|BBTV-Pakistan-CL-IM
JF957684|BBTV-Tonga-S28
HQ378193|BBTV-China-Haikou4
68
47
98
66
63
35
54
55
0.002 C-gene
BBTV-SCP-Mende62
BBTV-SCP-Mende76
BBTV-SCP-BENIN2
BBTV-SCP-Ibola5
BBTV-SCP-BENIN26
BBTV-SCP-Owotedo80
JN250595|BBTV-SriLanka-Kandy
JQ820455|BBTV-Malawi-73
73
JQ820467|BBTV-Rwanda-142
JQ820461|BBTV-Rwanda-138
AF148943|BBTV-Burundi
JF755981|BBTV-GAB-TV18.2
JF755979|BBTV-CAM-TV14.1
JF755978|BBTV-CAM-TV4.11
JF755986|BBTV-DRC-23
JF755984|BBTV-DRC-TV24
JF755982|BBTV-GAB-TV-17.5
JF755987|BBTV-DRC-25.2
JF755980| BBTV-MAL-TV5.4
FJ605507|BBTV-India-Bihar
FJ859739|BBTV-Pakistan-TA2
JF957660|BBTV-Tonga-S28
63
79
97
49
99
35
55
51
23
31
54
60
52
50
60
41
HQ378191|BBTV-China-Haikou4
AB108451|100 BBTV-Japan-JY1
0.01
SCP

19. Aphid role in BBTV spread
•How many species are involved in virus
transmission?
•Vector populations assessed using
mitochondrial COI gene marker
•Almost exclusive association of
P. nigronervosa with banana in Africa
•Rarely P. caladii was observed
NJ Phylogenetic tree based on
the Mt COI gene

20. Aphid role in BBTV spread
•Can all banana aphid populations transmit virus?
(Reasons for differential rate of virus spread)
Genes Protein
size
(bases)
Amino acid change
Position Vector Non-vector
PITP 300 262 Q H
DHPR 230 170 E Q
RePA70 235 155 N H
Cyclophilin 225 34 Q E
ATP-D 170 147 I D
CoA 245 68 P Q
Mutations in marker genes associated with virus transmission
•Application of protein biomarkers to determine variation in transmission
efficiency by banana aphids.
•Studies on aphid population in Nigeria indicates non-vector haplotyp as
dominant.

21. Tolerance to BBTD and aphids

22. Tolerance to BBTD and aphids

23. Effective eradication model
(studies in 2015)
•Complete eradication vs. partial eradication
•Fallow period vs no fallow period
•Duration of fallow period
•Rate of re-infection in newly planted fields

24. Diagnostic tools
Internal Control
[BRep-1] (400 bp)
BBTV specific
(240 bp)
Multiplex PCR with internal control primer
LAMP assay for BBTV detection
On-site application possible
Reading results by eye
after adding SYBR Green
dye. Colour changes from
orange (negative reaction)
to green (positive reaction).

25. Training in application of diagnostics
“Banana virus diagnostics for
clean seed production, safe
germplasm exchange and
surveillance of BBTD”
(CIRAD, July 2014)

26. Gender studies
Embedding recovery and containment strategies for banana diseases in the
social reality of male and female farmers
• Participatory methods workshop held in Bujumbura: 50 participants from pilot
sites in 8 countries attended.
• Methods and tools for gender and social analysis developed for implementation
in pilot sites 2015
• To develop information and communications strategies that informs
both women and men of safe pest and disease control methods
• Learn about the kinds of support both women and men need to
integrate BBTD control measures.

27. Linkages
Seed degeneration project:
Effect of BBTV on degeneration on
planting material (Farmer practices
vs. positive selection)
Seed system framework:
Effective model for generating
healthy planting material for disease
control in endemic areas
Pest risk assessment:
Impact of temperature vs altitude
effects on vectoring ability of banana
aphid (action site in Burundi)
Humidtropics systems
intensification:
Action sites in Burundi
Seed degeneration trial in Idologun (low-altitude
site), Ogun state, Nigeria
A similar trial at a high altitude location in
Brundi

28. BA 2: Improving the livelihoods of smallholder banana
producers in Asia and Africa through recovery and
containment of banana bunchy top disease
Understanding
host-virus-vector
dynamics, including
biological control
potential and
epidemiological
modeling
Integrated
approaches to
recover and maintain
banana production
in BBTD affected
areas, including
clean seed supplies
and community
replanting
Quarantine and
containment
strategies,
including
surveillance
methods and
diagnostic tools.
Appropriate
cropping systems
based on household
gender and
generational
understanding for
more effective and
economic BBTV
recovery approaches
Innovations for
host plant
resistance to
BBTV and
exploitation of
tolerant cultivars
for BBTD
recovery
Global, regional and
national awareness
raising and learning
approaches on the
threat of BBTD and
promoting integrated
community
approaches for
disease control
Capacity
development
among national
and local partners
for piloting BBTD
recovery and
production of
BBTV-free planting
material

29. Lessons
•Different expectations from farmers / stakeholders
-Some are proactive
-Some resists
-Some seek incentives to take part
•High demand for quality planting material
-Banana seed systems is week (especially in
Central and West Africa)
•Challenges with eradication
-Banana is a weed!!!

32. 7000000
6000000
5000000
4000000
3000000
2000000
1000000
35%
• BBTV is an introduced disease in SSA
13,496 ha
• One introduction expanded to 13 countries in SSA, threatening
35% of Musa production in 35% of the total area
ha
Source: FAO2012
0
Total production area Total area in BBTV
affected countries
Production
area in Australia
So what?

33. Likely spread of BBTV over time with and without an
active containment policy in Australia
Source: Cook et al., 2012

34. Expected annual benefit of BBTV exclusion
Source: Cook et al., 2012
“Exclusion benefits of the disease will avoid Aus$15.9-27.0 million in
annual losses for the banana industry”

35. Acknowledgments
Source: www.tinmoitruong.vn
NARS Partners