Black Sigatoka resistant banana varieties

Black Sigatoka disease (BSD) is an airborne fungal disease which cripples E. African banana crop production. Typical management of BSD relies on frequent (weekly) fungicide treatments throughout the growing season. However, in E. African the use of fungicides is beyond the reach of many resource-constrained subsistence farmers, and when they are used, fungicides present significant environmental and health hazards. Improving disease resistance through high performance crops is extremely challenging in the banana industry. New banana varieties cannot be produced through conventional cross-breeding as Cavendish bananas are triploid and sterile. In partnership with the IITA we will develop and demonstrate, 2 new non-transgenic BSD resistant varieties of banana (Grand Naine, Dwarf Cavendish) in a relevant economic and environmental setting. Using our proprietary GEiGS and NTC systems we will create programmable resistance to BSD utilizing RNAi within the plant cell, enabling E. African growers (notably in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania) increased productivity (10-25%) by enabling closer spacing of individual plants and reduced harvest loss (BSD can decimate upto 60% of harvest weight).