Banana leaf spot

The name of banana leaf spot is from that of the valley on Fiji where the disease first attracted serious attention. It is widespread but has not been reported from the producing areas of the Canary Islands, Egypt and Israel.

There are three main fungal that cause banana leaf spot: Mycosphaerella musicola, M. fijiensis and M. eumusae.

M.musicola was the first foliar to be identified as a major problem. Its spread from the Southeast Asian/Pacific region, where it was established by 1920s, to North and South America in the 1930s, resulted in widespread disruption to the export trade.

M. musicola produces spermatia in spermogonia, ascospores in perithecia, and conidia of the Cercospora type in sporodochia. Sporodochia appear while the spots are still light yellow, but successive crops of abundant conidia are produced by the same sporodochia only during the browns spot stage of the disease.

Symptoms are first seen as a yellowish green speck (1 mm long) on the leaves; this becomes a streak (3-4 x1 mm) which broadens and lengthens. The streak turns brown or rusty and has an ill-defined margin.
Banana leaf spot