The Dominican Association of Banana Producers (Adobanano) has revealed that some producers in the northwest of the Dominican Republic have been hit by yellow sigatoka disease.
A recent growers meeting was called by the Association to discuss the situation, according to Adobanano, with one company losing €30,000 after a shipment of the fruit was returned from Europe, Hoy Digital reported.
'The problem affects producers in the northwest, where 92 per cent of the country's banana crop is located,' Victor Pena, president of Adobanano, told Hoy Digital.
Mr Pena said that the outbreak had resulted from a lack of fertilisation in plantations, due to current water shortages.
'To achieve the proper fertilisation, plantations need to be wet, and this is not being achieved effectively due to water shortages,' he said.
Mr Pena called for a modernisation of existing irrigation facilities, with current systems losing around 40 per cent of water supplies through leakage and evaporation.
