The banana Fusarium wilt disease caused by the Fusarium fungus Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain has inflicted damages ranging from 1.4 to 5.5 million USD annually on Vietnam's banana industry.

The Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) recently coordinated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to organize the review conference for the project: "Emergency support to control and manage banana Fusarium wilt disease caused by the Fusarium fungus Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain in Vietnam."

According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, banana is currently one of Vietnam's flagship fruit export commodities. Nationally, the banana cultivation area spans over 160,000 hectares with an output exceeding 2.7 million tons per year. The banana export turnover in 2024 reached nearly 380 million USD, leaving substantial room for development in the coming time.

However, banana production is confronting a massive threat from the banana Fusarium wilt disease caused by the Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain.

Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, stated that this is an exceptionally dangerous disease that has emerged across numerous major banana-producing nations globally—such as the Philippines, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia—with the total affected area estimated at hundreds of thousands of hectares. International studies indicate that if not controlled effectively, the TR4 disease could inflict damages exceeding 10 billion USD on the global banana industry over the next few decades.

In Vietnam, the TR4 wilt disease has appeared across multiple key banana-growing regions, directly impacting yields, quality, orchard lifespans, as well as the production efficiency of citizens and enterprises. According to preliminary assessments, the disease has slashed banana output by approximately 0.5–2%, translating into losses of 1.4 to 5.5 million USD each year.

Faced with this situation, on September 7, 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved the project document funded by FAO. The project has been deployed since September 2025 with multiple objectives, including: identifying the distribution and damage levels of the disease, searching for disease-resistant varieties, upgrading diagnostic capacities and building sustainable management procedures.

Reporting on the project's execution results, Dr. Tran Ngoc Hung, FAO Project Coordinator in Vietnam, stated that the project has successfully identified 6 banana varieties possessing strong resistance to the wilt disease out of 68 Cavendish banana cultivars evaluated, prominently featuring the Uni126 and GL3-5-6 varieties. This serves as a vital foundation to orient the development of disease-adaptive banana varieties in the future.

Beyond breeding solutions, the project has also initially selected multiple antagonistic microorganism strains capable of inhibiting the Fusarium TR4 fungus, including groups of Trichoderma, Bacillus, and Streptomyces.

Deputy Director Nguyen Quy Duong emphasized that the project's outcomes establish a critical scientific and practical framework to continue perfecting technical processes for managing the TR4 banana wilt disease in Vietnam. Concurrently, it contributes to elevating the surveillance, diagnostic, and pest prevention capacities of localities, specialized agencies, and producers.

In the coming time, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection will continue coordinating with relevant units to accelerate pest investigation and monitoring; research and develop resistant/tolerant banana varieties; perfect biological management solutions; step up technical training and transfer; and promote the construction of safe, sustainable banana production zones that satisfy the requirements of both domestic and export markets.

Source: Bao Nguoi Lao Dong