ÉVOLUTION DES SYSTEMES DE CULTURE POUR LUTTER CONTRE LES NEMATODES - CULTIVER LES BANANIERS SANS NEMATICIDES

In Martinique and Guadeloupe, banana is the major cultivated crop, followed by sugar cane. Since the sixties, because of the severe parasitism on roots and corm (mostly, nematodes), all banana plantations applied very large quantities of pesticides, both nematicides and insecticides. The development of new crop system, based on soil sanitation by fallow or adapted crop rotation, combined with the use of nematode-free plants obtained by vitro-culture and complemented by pesticide applications linked with pest population levels, leaded to a reduction of 60% of active ingredients used in Martinique (from 84 metric tons on 8600 ha in 1996 to 30 tons on 8200 ha in 2004, with similar yields). This fast evolution, greatly strengthened by environmental constraints and stimulated by the governmental measures, should continue