With the participation of several banana producers from the company, banana workers, quality inspectors, and other personnel from producing farms, we held the first producers’ forum of the year, a training event where we addressed the effects and treatment of Sigatoka in banana plantations.
Producers’ Forum: Fighting Against Black Sigatoka
In this event, where we brought together a panel on science, technology, and farm operations, we had the presence of Mauricio Guzmán Quesada, an agronomist from the Costa Rican Institute of Technology and a master in crop protection from the University of Costa Rica; José Ricardo Astúa Marín, an agronomist and graduate in Agronomic Engineering with an emphasis on Phytotechnics from the University of Costa Rica; and Leslie Medina, an agronomist from the University of Costa Rica and Ms.c in Agricultural Sciences with an emphasis on soils from the same university.
Black Sigatoka is a disease found in banana plants caused by a fungus, which impacts production costs by 18%. For this reason, several years ago, the Productivity Directorate led by Fabián Fonseca began working on mitigation plans, organized aerial and drone spraying schemes, as well as the continuous improvement of cultural practices in plantations to reduce the effects of this disease and curb its proliferation, which is caused by wind and temperature changes.
