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Intro to Agriculture students learn proper banana propagation

Intro to Agriculture students learn proper banana propagation

Intro to Agriculture students learn proper banana propagation


9/22/2022
Noelle Guinto, a junior communications major, trims the roots away from the corm of a banana plant on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Inarajan Experiment Station.
Sophomore business administration major Tristan Valdes and junior biology major Nana Kanda carry an uprooted banana sucker to be cleaned and trimmed on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Inarajan Experiment Station.
The corms of different varieties of banana plants — trimmed, disinfected, and ready for transplanting. The corm is the portion of the plant stem where new suckers will emerge. Transplanting just the cleaned corms helps ensure viruses and pests do not spread.
Students assess the rows of banana plant varieties on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Inarajan Experiment Station to determine which suckers would be best for transplanting.
Joseph Pabunan, a freshman agriculture major, uses a barreta to uproot a banana sucker on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Inarajan Experiment Station.
Dr. Robert Bevacqua demonstrates how to trim the roots from a banana plant to his Introduction to Agriculture class on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Inarajan Experiment Station.
Ladisha Ardos, a freshman agriculture major, rinses the soil away from the roots of a banana sucker on Sept. 21, 2022, at the Inarajan Experiment Station.
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Intro to Agriculture (AL-101) students spent the morning of Sept. 21 at the Inarajan Research & Education Center learning how to propagate banana plants without spreading pests and viruses.

Dr. Robert Bevacqua and Kent Matsumoto
Dr. Robert Bevacqua assists Kent Matsumoto, a sophomore accounting major in his Introduction to Agriculture class, with peeling away parts of the banana plant that may harbor pests or viruses before it is transplanted.
Dr. Robert F. Bevacqua, an adjunct instructor for AL-100 and an extension associate under UOG’s Western Pacific Tropical Research Center, demonstrated the proper way to uproot the plants, rinse the roots, trim the stem down to the corm — or the portion where the next plant will emerge — disinfect the corm prior to transplanting, and ensure they remain labelled with their variety throughout the process.

The suckers that the students harvested will be planted on Triton Farm and on the UOG campus, where they will be used for sustainable agriculture demonstrations.

“We use the banana plantation at the Inarajan Experiment Station as a source of planting material because it contains 12 varieties of banana, including some of the most popular ones on Guam, and the plantation is free of an invasive virus called bunchy top — the most serious threat to banana plants on Guam.”

In his classes and community workshops, he teaches the method of trimming banana suckers down to the corm before transplanting in order to prevent the spread of major banana pests, including banana corm weevil, nematodes, soil-borne diseases like Panama Wilt, leaf blights, and aphids, which can be vectors for disease.

For more information on plant diseases and plant pathology work happening at UOG, visit the Plant Pathology webpage of the Western Pacific Tropical Research Center.