Introduction:
The overall aim of this project is to develop an integrated approach to crop production of bananas to effectively manage wilt diseases in Indonesia and Australia.
During the reporting period, encouraging progress has already been made towards achieving the project's three objectives of:
Developing packages of Integrated Pest Management (IPM)/Integrated Crop Management (ICM) guidelines for rehabilitating and improving the livelihoods of banana farmers.
Evaluating and adapting packages of IPM/ICM technologies to develop sustainable and profitable banana production systems.
Undertaking research to refine management practices using IPM/ICM principles.
Inception workshop:
The project kicked off with an inception workshop in Bogor, Indonesia on August 18-22, 2009 to discuss among participating researchers and coordinators from collaborating institutes the details of the project methodologies, activities, responsibilities and timelines for project implementation (see attachments 1 and 2). Representatives from DEEDI, ACIAR, ITFRI, GMU, ICHORD, DG Hort and Bioversity attended the workshop. Two community pilot sites were identified - Serampad, Cianjur, West Java and Legundi, South Lampung - based on the following criteria for selection: a) the location has the potential to become a major banana-producing center; b) the site is one of the buffer zones of Jakarta Special Capital in supporting fruits and foods; c) banana is an important crop in the area; d) wilt diseases are a major constraint for banana production in the area; and e) farmers and farmer groups in the area are willing cooperators. Best-bet crop-management options were identified for piloting in the project (see section2, objective1; annex 7 and attachment 2).
Pilot Studies:
The workshop was followed by participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) conducted in October and November 2009 in the two identified pilot locations Legundi Village and Serampad Village. Protocols and questionnaires were formulated to guide the conduct of the PRA (see annex 6). From these PRAs, the following information was gathered: a) transect map of Serampad village; b) problems in banana production systems and disease management in both villages; c) the possible solutions/ interventions to improve productivity; and d) a schematic diagram of the banana supply chain of both villages (see annexes 4 & 5).
In Lampung, it was found that banana production systems are based only on farmers' knowledge and farmers have no formal training or information on banana production, disease management and IPM/ ICM, a situation leading to low productivity. The varieties planted in the area are not popular varieties in the market, thus commanding a low price in the market. The analysis and interpretation of the complete dataset will be published in the near future as more field information is collected.
In Serampad, it was found that banana is planted in mixed cropping systems with high-value crops such as maize, chilli and other vegetables, where banana is only the secondary crop. Banana production and disease management technologies that increase productivity are generally lacking.
Risk analysis tool:
In Australia, a risk analysis tool is being developed for the banana industry to determine the risk of developing Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense) (Foc) on banana plantations in Australia. The tool will comprise 3 sections: a checklist to assess the risk of Fusarium, a flow diagram of the risk of developing Fusarium wilt at different stages of the crop production cycle, and further information on how to deal with and manage the risk of Foc. The checklist has been developed prior to project inception, and is currently undergoing review with banana industry personnel. This tool will be validated in this study in managing Foc Race 1 in Australia
Research to refine management practices:
Studies to understand the dynamics of Foc infection particularly on the effect of soil supression were intiated in Indonesia and Australia. GMU and DEEDI scientists started interacting to harmonize methodologies in carrying out soil supression studies. A workshop was carried out in GMU between GMU, DEEDI, and Bioversity researchers in March 2010. A hands-on training between the Australian and Indonesian researchers was done in GMU. Protocols on sampling, analyses of various soil samples to determine physico-chemico-biological properties and relate it to soil supression to Foc was agreed upon. The various soil properties will be related to Foc severity or fungistasis both in controlled experiment as well as field data from farmers' fields.
In Indonesia, some soil samplings have already been carried out from various places with known disease severity, based on actual observations and on accounts by farmers' interviews. A survey was conducted comparing five paired organic and conventional banana plantations. From each plantation, soil samples were collected from three separate fields and analysed on chemical, physical and biological soil health indicators using the methods described in the protocol manual. The ability to suppress Fusarium wilts in bananas and tomatoes was also tested for the soils collected. Disease progress was recorded once a week from day 21 to day 58 post inoculation. The area under the disease progress curve (AUC) for each plant was calculated, and these are currently being analysed along with the soil indicators. Glasshouse trials are currently ongoing to clarify the potential for soils collected from the survey of organic and conventional banana plantations to suppress Foc.
Furthermore, surveys of banana growers in north Queensland and northern NSW growing banana cultivars susceptible to Foc are taking place. Currently, four sites have been sampled in north Queensland and five sites with suppressive and conducive soils have been identified in northern NSW. Preliminary experiments are being conducted for the characterization of the soil samples based on chemical and biological properties. Soil samples were collected from locations with healthy and Foc infected soils. Preliminary isolation of bacterial colonies for characterization is still being conducted. Labile Carbon (C) concentration experiments in healthy and infected soil samples on-going for the purpose of identifying relationships between the labile C and Foc infection. Experiments for other chemical soil characteristics will be conducted later in the project. Soil samples from other locations will also be tested later.
A field demonstration was established on a Ducasse (ABB, Pisang Awak) plantation infected with Foc Race 1. The experiment had five treatments: T1 - a combination of two Effective Microbes (EM) products on fresh compost; T2 - aged compost; T3 - Natural Silica (ground diatomaceous earth); T4 - a combination of T1-T3; and T5 - an untreated control. The EM treatments were reapplied fortnightly, over the duration of the experiment. All treatments were managed organically according to BFA (Biological Farmers Association) standards. Disease progress was recorded every two weeks and growth was measured once a month. Soil samples were taken initially, after two months and at the end of the experiment at four months post application. Soil samples are being analysed for characteristics described in the protocol manual, and results will be available in the next report. The potential for the treatments used in the demonstration trial to suppress Foc is also being tested in glasshouse trials.

Introduction
The overall aim of this project is to develop an integrated approach in banana crop production to effectively manage wilt diseases and enhance productivity and livelihoods of small-scale farmers in Indonesia and Australia.
During the reporting period, encouraging progress has already been made towards achieving the project's three objectives of:
1. Developing packages of Integrated Pest Management (IPM)/Integrated Crop Management (ICM) guidelines for rehabilitating and improving the livelihoods of banana farmers.
2. Evaluating and adapting packages of IPM/ICM technologies to develop sustainable and profitable banana production systems.
3. Undertaking research to refine management practices using IPM/ICM principles.
Piloting IPM/ICM packages to improve banana productivity and livelihoods of banana farmers (Indonesia)
Based on the results of the project inception meetings during the first year of the project, two communities, namely, Serampad Village, Cianjur in West Java, and in Legundi Village, South Lampung, Sumatra, were chosen for the establishment of pilot studies. Participatory rapid appraisals (PRAs) were conducted among farmer groups Dinas, Balai Pengkajian Teknologi Pertanian NAD (BPTP) and Indonesia Tropical Fruit Research Institute (ITFRI), results of which were used to formulate plans for the pilot plots in each village. Production problems and opportunities were identified and discussed among the various stakeholders. The following IPM/ICM options were considered in the pilot studies: (1) land preparation; (2) banana population management ; (3) crop diversity; (4) use of disease-free planting materials; (5) nutrient management; (6) soil-water management; (7) early disease monitoring and eradication; (8) plant protection (fruit bagging and deflowering); and (9) quarantine. The pilot studies are now work-in-progress.
In Cianjur, a total of 15 farmers agreed to participate in the pilot study, of which 3 farmers agreed to implement the complete set of management options. The rest of the farmers chose different levels of management options according to their interest and capacities. In Lampung, of the 20 farmer-participants, 3 farmers agreed to implement the complete set while the others chose to use options appropriate to their capacities and cropping systems. Many of the farmers in Lampung practice mixed cropping of bananas with maize, peppers and other vegetables.
The major component of this pilot study is the provision and use of affordable and sustainable supply of clean planting materials, grown with appropriate cultural practices. Thus, the main activities during this period of reporting were the provision of banana seedlings and capacity-building on the production and care of banana seedlings, as well as cultural practices. Two seedling systems were 'adapted', namely seedlings from bits derived from corms and tissue culture seedlings. The farmers in both locations were taught the conventional propagation method of banana bits. This included the actual protocol of bit-production and the necessary nursery management. This activity was complemented by the establishment of the banana bit nursery in Legundi in 2010. ITFRI, in collaboration with Dinas and the farmer groups in the village, facilitated a village level training on corm bits nursery establishment, from corm selection to seedbed preparation and nursery maintenance. Similarly, farmers were also taught nursery management of seedlings derived from tissue culture. Tissue culture meriplants were sourced from ITFRI tissue culture laboratory, while efforts are on-going to establish a more sustainable source of meriplants from private tissue culture laboratories. Farmers in the village plant varieties based on market preference and demand. Currently, the village nursery sells and maintains a number of banana varieties (e.g. Pisang Serei, Pisang Mas, Raja Bulu etc.) from bits. The small village nursery is now becoming a potential livelihood for local farmers. The village farmers who manage the nursery collaborated recently with Dinas to supply the banana seedling requirement for its local banana project.
ITFRI and BPTP extension technicians have regularly monitored and documented the activities of collaborating farmers. At the onset of the pilot studies, the farmers agreed the options that they are going to implement. However there were some variations in implementation depending on the prevailing situation, such as rainfall level, availability of irrigation,, cropping system type, and preference to tissue culture versus bits. The actual practices of the participants were recorded and these will form the basis for analysing changes in productivity and income. Detailed descriptions of activities are included in the Annex Section.
Pathogen virulence and cultivar resistance studies (Indonesia)
Virulence studies of the various strains of Foc to different Indonesian cultivars is carried out at the screenhouse at ITFRI. Selected cultivars representing important genomic groups are inoculated with Foc vegetatively compatible groups (VCGs) that were characterised in previous ACIAR projects. Varieties included: (1) Berlin (AA); (2) Calcutta (AA); (3) Kilita (AAB); (4) Klutuk Awu (BB); (5) Barangan (AAA); (6) Ambon Hijau (AAA Cavendish type); (7) Ambon Kuning (AAA Gros Michel); (8) Ketan (AAB); (9) Perancis (ABB); (10) Kepok (ABB Saba); (11) Tanduk (ABB Plantain). The virulence of the various VCGs vis a vis the resistance of the various cultivars are evaluated. Results will pave the way to identifying resistant cultivars to specific VCGs, which is likely to be important in cultivar deployment as a means of disease management, and the development of differential host cultivars for diagnostics of Foc Races. This study is being validated in the field using the same set of cultivars, but testing against the most virulent Tropical Race (TR) 4, the VCG1213/16. Field evaluation is implemented in naturally Foc TR4 infested soil in Aripan Experimental Farm, Solok, West Sumatra. The experiment was set up following the randomised complete block design with 12 treatments (11 varieties, plus uninoculated Pisang Hijau, as a control ), with 3 replicates having 10 plants per replicate. To ensure Foc TR4 infection, hardened seedlings for field evaluation were inoculated with VCG 01213/16 before planting. Visible symptoms of Foc TR4 infection such as leaf yellowing, pseudostem splitting, petiole buckling and wilting are being observed among the test plants. The studies are work-in-progress.
Soil characterisation study to understand soil Foc-suppression to refine disease management approaches
(Australia) Trials are currently ongoing to clarify the potential for soils collected from the survey of organic and conventional banana plantations to suppress Foc. The potential for the treatments used in the demonstration trial to suppress Foc are also being tested in glasshouse trials. Furthermore, surveys of banana growers in north Queensland and northern NSW growing banana cultivars susceptible to Foc are taking place. Four sites have already been sampled in north Queensland, and five sites with suppressive and conducive soils have been identified in northern NSW. Field surveys have taken place on 4 farms (8 fields) in northern NSW and 3 farms (9 fields) in north Queensland. All farms are primarily focused on Lady Finger (Pome, AAB) production, as Lady Finger commands a higher market price relative to Cavendish. In northern NSW, both of the soil enzyme analyses (FDA and -glucosidase) indicated lower levels of microbial activity associated with the blocks where Fusarium wilt (FW) was more severe. Further analyses of soil samples for chemical and biological properties have taken place and will be related to disease severity and progression.
Preliminary results from the survey and the pot experiment suggested that it is possible to use the selected biological indicators to assess the effects of different banana crop management practices on disease incidence and soil microflora. Current rapid screening techniques to determine the soil suppressiveness of Foc need to be improved. The use of biological indicators in the soil from farms did not necessarily relate to suppression of the pathogen but had an effect on the plants' ability to tolerate the disease and enabled plants to continue to grow even though infected with the pathogen.
A second field demonstration was established on a Ducasse (AAB, Pisang Awak) plantation infested with Foc Race 1. The site was flattened by cyclone Yasi, where any bunch-bearing plants had been knocked down. This created more uniform cropping since all plants were knocked down and the second crop will start from the new suckers. Thus, bunch production would be delayed in the trial, and bunch harvests would not commence on the demonstration site until October 2011. The experiment had four management treatments, which comprised multiple practice changes: (1) 'A' practice - aspiration practice that may reduce severity of FW, which includes treatments that are currently available to banana growers; (2) 'B' practice - best practice - practices that are currently available to banana growers and can be easily implemented; (3) 'C' practice - current practice - the growers' current method of banana management; and (4) 'D' practice - worst practices - include practices used by banana growers that are believed to enhance the severity of FW. The trial has only been established for three months and to date, no treatment differences have been observed.
(Indonesia) Soil samples from small-scale banana farms and commercial Cavendish plantations with histories of different incidence of Foc were collected and analysed in the laboratory of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture at UGM. The soils were characterised as to their physical, biochemical and biological properties to understand the mechanism and potential of soil suppression on the management of Foc. Soil samples were collected from (1) a private banana company in Lampung (GGPC and NTF), farmers' farms in (2) West Java and (3) South Lampung, and (4) an institutional farm belonging to Balai Benih (Seed Institute) in Salaman, Central Java. The soil samples consist of Foc-infected soil samples (bases were the recorded Foc incidence in the area) and healthy soil samples (soils collected from healthy plants). Soil samples were obtained from the banana rhizosphere of both Foc-infected and healthy banana plants.
Preliminary results showed that more diverse microbial community profiles were associated with soil samples from farms that were managed using the following: (1) crop rotation with cassava, pineapple, maize and (2) application of organic fertiliser (cassava and the decomposed cassava material). There is an indication that known Foc-antagonistic species such as Pseudomonas fluorescens were found and isolated from root rhizosphere of healthy Cavendish (variety DM2) plantation in NTF. Higher Fluorescein diacetate Fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis assays can be used to measure enzyme activity produced by microbes in a sample. A bright yellow glow is produced and is strongest when enzymatic activity is greatest. This can be quantified using a spectrofluorometer.
(FDA) values were observed from Foc-infected soil samples; high FDA values may be associated to the higher population of Foc. On the other hand, PNG (-nitrophenyl -D-glucopyranosidase) values were high in NTF, which may be related to high microbial activity in the soil. Soil samples from West Java and Central Java were found with low microbial activity compared to the samples from NTF. The amount of C labile from the resistant plant (DM2) soil samples may have come from the decomposition activity of antagonist microbes against Foc, while the C labile from the susceptible plant (CJ20, Ambon Kuning and Raja Bulu) samples may have come from the high Foc activity in the soil. Other physical and chemical soil characteristics related to the suppression or development of Foc are still being conducted in the laboratory. Experimental plots in the glasshouse and in the field will be conducted later to validate the data collected from the field soil sample analyses, and the historical Foc incidence from the fields where the samples were collected. This study is a work-in-progress.