Race to stop lethal yellowing disease

BY INGRID BROWN Senior staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Friday, February 03, 2012

GOVERNMENT says it is moving speedily to tackle the lethal yellowing disease, which has the potential to wipe out Jamaica's lucrative coconut industry.

Lethal yellowing results in the premature shedding of the fruits and causes the leaf to become yellow from lower to upper stem, resulting in the plant dying within three to six months of the disease appearing.

Dr Wayne Myrie of the Coconut Industry Board said Jamaica has developed a variety of the coconut palm that is resisting the disease, and which is being made available to farmers on a limited basis.

Myrie, who was addressing journalists at the rebranded Jamaica House press briefing in Kingston on Wednesday, said these plants are now being tested in the field.

"Fortunately for us, we have experimentally looked at how to stem the spread of the disease and we have been embarking on a programme to remove the infected trees from the field immediately, to burn those trees and to plant another tree in the space of that one and also to do proper cultural practices," he said.

Known as the Black approach, he said the method has stemmed the spread of the disease.

"We have a small cutting-down team that goes in every nook and cranny of Jamaica and removes lethal yellowing trees and distributes seedlings to farmers," he explained.

He said Jamaica has been able to control the spread in Eastern Jamaica.

The disease, he said, has been found to be far more severe on the coastal areas than inland.

As such, Myrie said the Coconut Industry Board has been targeting inland areas as well as Western Jamaica to replant and to encourage, especially young farmers, to get involved in coconut production.

Meanwhile, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for information, Senator Sandrea Falconer, said the effects of the lethal yellowing disease on the industry was among the issues discussed by Cabinet earlier this week.

She explained that in 1961 Jamaica had approximately six million coconut palms and by 1981, 90 per cent had been wiped out by this disease.

However in 2007, Jamaica produced 90.7 million nuts from 3.3 million palms and in 2010 experts said the country had just over 3.38 million.

"Farmers have had to undertake continuous replanting to maintain the status quo in terms of the same number of trees," she said.

She added that Jamaica is doing continuous research and is working with Mexico, Brazil and some international agencies to assist in the fight against lethal yellowing.

"This is very important because in 2010 we earned about 1.3 billion from coconut products and coconut," she said.

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Race to stop lethal yellowing disease