DA-XI holds workshop on info campaign for Fusarium wilt mgt

DAVAO DEL NORTE, June 16 (PIA) - - The Department of Agriculture (DA) XI is conducting starting today (June 16) at Big 8 Corporate Hotel, Tagum City, a Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Intensified Communications Campaign on Management and Control of Banana Fusarium Wilt in Davao Region.

The three-day workshop assembles the information officers of local government unit with Fusarium-infected banana plantation.

Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Officer Noel Provido said that workshop will establish an information network and core of advocates to beef up the department’s information campaign, especially on Fusarium wilt management and control.

“Our region’s banana plantations are infected by Fusarium wilt and we need to educate our farmers on how to control and manage this disease through the information officers so as to prevent more damages in the industry,” Provido said.

He added that at the end of the workshop, a communication plan for the Fusarium wilt management will be drafted for implementation by the participants.

The workshop discusses sessions on Banana Fusarium Wilt as a major threat to country’s major dollar earning industry and the interventions implemented by the DA, including testimony by farmers on planting Fusarium resistant varieties.

Also included in the workshop are knowledge sessions on guidelines on Fusarium Management and Reward System for local government units and grassroots communications as tools towards intensified public awareness and education on the disease. (PIA11, Michael Uy)