Can Agroforestry Mitigate Soil-borne Disease of Banana?

IPB University, Indonesia

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan

The University of Tokyo, Japan

Utsunomiya University, Japan

FY 2020–2022 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI)

FUJII, Kazumichi (Department of Forest Soils)

Banana has risk of Panama disease or Fusarium wilt. Agroforestry of banana with leguminous trees can improve soil fertility and banana’s resistance to disease through silicon uptake induced by soil acidification.

We test whether agroforestry can improve soil fertility, banana yield, and banana resistance to disease.

We assess the optimum tree density required for sustaining banana yield without disease events by comparing soil microbiome diversity and plant resistance. Specifically we examine the formation of silicon double layers between banana plantations at varied agroforestry intensity.

We found that silicon contents in healthy banana leaves were higher than in banana leaves affected by diseases in Philippine. In Indonesia, silicon contents in banana leaves vary widely depending on agroforestry practices and soil types. We also found that agroforestry of banana plantation can increase soil microbial diversity and reduce the relative abundance of Fusarium spp.

Our research findings regarding the effects of agroforestry and soil types on banana leaf silicon contents and soil microbial community are applied to research on inhibition of banana pathogens in Philippine.