Targeting actions to improve the quality of farmer planting material in bananas and plantains. Building a national priority-setting framework

In recent decades the productivity of banana and plantain, traditionally important small farmer crops, has come under increasing threat from the spread of viruses and other phytosanitary problems transmitted in vegetative planting material. In addition, while for many other crops small farmers have improved access to new cultivars with increased yield potential and pest and disease resistance, for banana and plantain such access is as yet incipient. To harness the potential of banana and plantain as a small farmer crop, we propose that systems for cultivar deployment and the propagation of clean planting material need to be developed for the specific conditions of each country or region. A clonal crop "seed" system consists of all individuals, organizations and institutions which are linked to the genetic make-up, the quality and the supply of planting material. To develop guidelines for the identification of priorities for system strengthening, a survey was carried out in Asia, Africa and Latin America. National seed systems were profiled using a questionnaire designed to capture simple information about the quality and quantity of planting material and the extent of the formal mechanisms for deploying cultivars and multiplying planting material. Information from more than 30 countries was analyzed and scientific advances in pest and disease management and genetic improvement reviewed to generate a four-level decision tree (Musa diversity, importance of AAB types, presence of diseases such as banana bunchy top virus and the current formal seed system capacity). Based on an exercise to prioritize distinct and specific actions, 12 different groups of countries were identified with similar limiting factors, obstacles and opportunities for strengthening their system for cultivar deployment and planting material propagation. (Résumé d'auteur