Completed project
Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 – biosecurity and sustainable solutions (BA14013)
Publication date: July 31, 2018
Delivery Partner: The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
This project had a focus on biosecurity strategies around the Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 (TR4) fungus – one of the most destructive diseases of banana. The work delivered new science, information and practices to help in avoiding, containing, and managing TR4.
Project activities were geared towards helping the industry successfully contain the disease and prevent further spread of the fungus through the adoption of robust, science-based biosecurity practices; and facilitating the development of economically viable production systems capable of minimising inoculum build-up, suitable for use on infected or at-risk farms.
The project team report that adoption of effective biosecurity practices on north Queensland banana farms has been significantly supported by project activities, which included – but weren’t limited to – identifying and communicating…
The project has shown that the use of very high, toxic rates of urea fertiliser (much higher than the normal fertiliser rates used) to produce ammonia gas in very localised plots and in specific ways (bagging infected banana stem and adding urea, spreading it on the ground adjacent to the plant and sheeting the site with plastic) can dramatically reduce the amount of inoculum that persists. This means that the risk of accidental movement of infected plant or soil from the site is very much reduced and is key part of containing the spread of the disease.
The project has also significantly progressed development of methods for assessing plant stress and its influence on Fusarium infection, identified possible rotation crops that suppress fungus populations in the soil, and looked at the influence of ground cover and nitrogen management practices on the soil microbiome and its capacity to suppress Fusarium.
The project’s work has been world-leading in many areas, with the project team linking in with the international R&D community as a part of its work. This disease is spreading rapidly internationally, and the team reports that researchers and growers from Central America, Israel, South Africa and other areas have been visiting to learn about the work, especially the biosecurity practices work.
This project was a strategic levy investment in the Hort Innovation Banana Fund
© 2026 Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited.
Related industries
