7 ref. Sum. (En)

Moko disease is endemic in Guyana and is a major limiting factor to plantain and banana production. Strain B of Pseudomonas solanacearum race two, has been confirmed to be present in Guyana and as the virulent strain causing Moko disease of plantains and bananas. Other workers (Buddenhagen 1961, Cronshaw and Edmunds, 1980) have reported that SFR insect-transmitted strain is found in the rest of the Caribbean. Further studies are to be undertaken to determine if the various isolates of P. solanacearum are all similar strains of race two as found above. The Pelipita cv. (Musa ABB) has shown to be resistant to Moko disease and has adapted well to local conditions. Investigations are continuing to test the influence of the resistant Pelipita cultivar and the other identified resistant plantain and banana cultivars: Enano dwarf (plantains and bananas) Congo and Mari Congo when grown as buffer zones on Moko incidence and spread in infested cultivations. Despite the poor cooking properties along with the low marketing potential of the Pelipita cultivar it might still prove to be of a benefical use in terms of reducing moko disease incidence in infested fields. Enano dwarf plantains has distinctly similar characteristics to the commercially grown. Bluggoe plantains, and shows good promise to become a commercially acceptable cultivar resistant to P. solanacearum