By: Edzorna Francis Gakpey
The Minister for Food and Agriculture is set to increase farmer awareness of the Bacterial Black Spot (BBS), and equip farmers, extension agents, quarantine officers and plant doctors for early detection and effective management of the disease.
According to the Minister, the strategy to curb the disease will include carrying out trials in selected farmer mango fields with some of the registered fungicides to confirm the efficacy of the fungicides to other farmers.
He also talked about training manuals that will be developed to improve extension services delivery as part of the management of the disease.
The Sector Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto who was in Parliament on Wednesday, 9th November 2022 to an urgent Parliamentary question by Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey MP for Keta in respect to what the Ministry is instituting to avert Bacterial Black Spot (BBS) Disease affecting mango farmers and forcing them out of business submitted that, “regular monitoring of the disease will be ensured to manage and effectively control the its spread on mango farms”.
He further stated that, the management of BBS instituted by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture aims among others at encouraging good cultural practices such as orchard sanitation and pruning to reduce inoculum levels of the bacteria, encouraging and creating awareness on area-wide disease management in mango farms as well as “using healthy planting materials from nurseries, purchasing all seedlings from a certified nursery dealer and, making sure the dealer is aware of BBS nursery management procedure, encouraging farmers to use recommended copper-based fungicides after pruning and the application of copper + Mancozeb sprays to ensure that all wounds and crevices are covered”.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie also mentioned that pruning after harvest and a spray regime of 2- or 3-week intervals, will help to effectively reduce the incidence of BBS and “regular scouting for early detection and application of one or two postharvest copper sprays to cover the post-harvest flush and tail end of the rainy season for effective reduction in the inoculum pressure the following season will be carried out as well”.
The BBS disease is caused by a bacterium known as Xanthomonas campestris citri pv Mangiferae indica. BBS has remained one of the most destructive diseases of mango worldwide. The bacterium is present on mango trees and enters into fruits through holes called lenticels.
