Abstract
Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is one of the Ethiopia’s indigenous sustainability crops supporting the livelihoods of about 20 million people, mainly in the densely populated South and Southwestern parts of the country. Enset serves as a food security crop for humans, animal feed, and source of fiber for the producers. The production of enset has been constrained by plant pests, diseases, and abiotic factors. Among these constraints, bacterial wilt disease has been the most important limiting factor for enset production since its outbreak five decades ago. There is no known bacterial wilt disease resistant genetic material in the enset genetic pool to transfer this trait to susceptible enset varieties through conventional breeding. Moreover, the absence of effective chemicals against the disease has left farmers without means to combat bacterial wilt for decades. Genetic engineering has been the alternative approach to develop disease resistant plant materials in other crops where traditional breeding tools are ineffective. This review discusses enset cultivation and recent developments addressing the control of bacterial wilt disease in enset and related crops like banana to help design effective strategies.
Highlights
Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) belongs to the genus Ensete in the monocotyledon Musaceae family where Musa genera of banana are classified (Cheesman, 1947)
E. ventricosum, E. gilletti, and E. homblei, grow in sub-Saharan Africa among which only E. ventricosum is cultivated in Ethiopia serving as a food security crop (Brandt, 1997)
We explored and discussed the cultivation of enset and research reports carried out to tackle bacterial wilt disease in enset and other crops like banana that could help to transfer skills to control the disease in enset
Summary
Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) belongs to the genus Ensete in the monocotyledon Musaceae family where Musa genera of banana are classified (Cheesman, 1947). In some enset-growing areas, such situations have caused farmers to abandon their enset farming and replace it with annual crops. The tradition of sharing planting materials in the enset farming communities is believed to have contributed a lot for the dissemination of the disease across growing areas in the country. This has made management and control of the disease very difficult. We explored and discussed the cultivation of enset and research reports carried out to tackle bacterial wilt disease in enset and other crops like banana that could help to transfer skills to control the disease in enset
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