Assessment Of Farmers’ Perception Of Bacterial Wilt Disease In Selected Districts In Bong And Nimba Counties Liberia
Volume 3 - Issue 8, August 2019 Edition
[Download Full Paper]
Author(s)
Daniel Dokie Tokpah, Roland Nuhu Issaka, Sianneh Harris Kullei, JacobBinda Kolleh
Keywords
BWT disease, incidence, severity, tomato
Abstract
Ralstoniasolanacearumis a casual organism that causes bacterial wilt disease (BWT) of solanaceae cropand a major threat to tomato production causing up to 100% yield loss. The pathogen is widely distributedsoil borne plant pathogenic bacteria which impact negatively in tomato production in Liberia. Surveys on BWT disease were conducted to provide information on incidence and severity, as well as farmers’ perception of the disease using questionnaires. The surveys startedfrom September to October, 2017 in 80 tomato farms within four districts:Gbarlay-Geh, Mentiamahn, Suakoko, and Kpaii, in Nimba and Bong counties of Liberia. In each district, five communities were selected while purposive and stratified sampling methods used. Affected tomato crop showing the symptom of BWT disease were extracted from the field cut at the base suspended in clean glass of distilled water for identification of the pathogen. The surveys revealed that most (74.31%) of the farmers had knowledge on the disease. From the survey most of the tomato farmers were women (54%) and more than 60% of the farmers had basic education. Over 62% of the farmers engaged in tomato production are between the ages of 29-48 years and 87% of the farmers have less than 10years experience. The survey also revealed that over 50% of the farmers obtained their seeds from other farmers and about 60% of them preferred local varieties because of their resistance to BWT. 67% of the farmers recognize BWT as the major constraint in tomato production and the disease is mostly observed by farmers (74%) when the crop is matured and during the wet season (82%). From the survey disease incident and severity varied significantly between districts. The highest incidence and severity of BWT disease were observed at Kpein and Negbeein (100%) in Mentiamahn district and the least in Gayetaryeah in Bong County inKpaii District which showed13.5% incidence and 9.5% severity. In general 60% of the communities showed incidence of BWT of 30% and above and 45% showed severity of 30% and above.
References
[1]. C. K.Osei, Banful, and F. Nimoh, “A study on Postharvest loss Management and women empowerment. Final report submitted to Ghana Agricultural Worker Union (GAWU) of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana, P.45. 2010.
[2]. www.fao.org
[3]. G.B. Yadessa, A.H.C. Bruggen, and F.L. Ocho, “Effects of different soil amendments on bacterial wilt caused by Ralstoniasolanacearumand on the yield of tomato.Journal of Plant Pathology ,92 (2): 439-450, 2010.
[4]. A.C. Hayward, “Ralstoniasolanacearum. In: Lederbergerg J. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Microbiology Vol.4 San Diego, California. Academic Press, pp. 32-42, 2000.
[5]. K.N.Anith, M.T.Momol, J.W.Kloepper, J.J. Marois, S.Olson, and J.B. Jones, “ Efficacy of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, acibenzolar-S-methyl, and soil amendment for integrated management of bacterial wilt on tomato. Plant Disease, 88, 669–673,2004.
[6]. F. Lemessa, and W. Zeller, “Screeningrhizobacteria for biological control of Ralstoniasolanacearumin Ethiopia. Biological Control, 42, 336-344, 2007.
[7]. Kelman
[8]. A. Getachew, F. Chemeda, A. Seid, and W. Kerstin,“Effects of soil amendmentonbacterial wilt caused by Ralstoniasolanacearumand Tomato Yields in Ethiopia. Journal ofPlant Protection Research, 51: 72-75,2011.
[9]. B.M. Cooke, D.G Jones and B.Kaye, (2006).Disease assessment of yield loss. In: The Epidemiology of plant disease.Springer, the Netherlands, eds) pp.475, 2006.
[10]. Genstat. “Lawes Agricultural Trust (Rothamsted Experimental Station).Genstat Release, 9:2,2007.
[11]. A. Kotane,“The role of Rural Women in House-hold Food Security and Nutrition in Limpopo Province. Master’s Thesis, Unpublished. Development of Youth Development, University of Venda, 2009.
[12]. G.N.Agrios,“ Plant Pathology, 5th Edition, Elsevier Academic Press Inc. New York, 2005.
[13]. J.G. Manners, “Principles of plant pathology 2nd Ed. Cambridge University press, 187-260pp,1992.
[14]. J. Fan, X.Guo, L. Li,F. Huang, W. Sun, Y. Li, and J. Shi, “Infection of Ustilaginoideavirensintercepts rice seed formation but activates grain- filling-related genes, 57(6), 2015.
