Uganda risks losing some four billion U.S. dollars to the banana bacterial wilt by 2010 unless efforts to prevent the fast-spreading disease are put in place, experts have warned.

The Crop Crisis Control Project's country manager, Stella Sengendo, was quoted by New Vision on Friday as saying unless the government and other stakeholders stipulate serious measures to control the disease, bananas will become extinct.

"It has been estimated that by 2010, losses of 4 billion U.S. dollars will be incurred by the banana industry in Uganda if no action is taken to rectify the situation," she said.

The project is a regional initiative implemented by the Catholic Relief Services, International Network for Improvement of Banana and Plantain, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Banana Research Network for East and Southern Africa to fight spread of the disease.

Researchers have discovered that the disease is transmitted by stingless bees, honeybees, grass flies and fruit flies. It can, however, be prevented by using clean planting materials, destruction of post-harvest residues and good crop husbandry.

"The spread of the disease can be significantly reduced by increasing farmers' and stakeholders' knowledge on how it spreads and how to prevent introduction for further spread," Sengendo said.

According to her, 33 districts have recorded the disease outbreak and the most recent ones are; Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Ntungamo and Soroti.

She said the disease has reached a level of 70 and 80 percent in just one year and losses of 100 percent have been registered especially for juice bananas.

"Potential national loss is estimated at 360 million dollars every year, or 90 percent of banana contribution to Gross Domestic Product," Sengendo said if the disease is not controlled.

Source: Xinhua