Potential use of Bacillus genus to control of bananas diseases: Approaches toward high yield production and sustainable management

Abstract

Bananas and plantains are perennial crops that grow quickly and can be harvested all year round. According to the FAO, bananas are the eighth most important food crop in the world and the fourth most important food crop among the world’s least-developed countries with production of over 105 million tons per year. Through trade and supply, bananas make up a global $8.9 billion trade industry. This popular crop is now threatened with different diseases. Statistics illustrated that banana disease could potentially spread up to 1.6 million ha by 2040 if no significant interventions are instituted and consequently cause major yield losses, and emerging diseases pose new threats to global food security. Potential losses of this crop could have substantial socio economic impacts on livelihoods along the banana value chain. Currently the application of chemicals against pathogens is considered highly effective, but the continuous use of pesticides could potentially threat the environment. Thus, there is increasing need to find a sustainable alternative to using synthetic pesticides in order to improve profitable agricultural yield. One strategy for the control of plant diseases is that of biological control using natural enemies of these pests, such as rhizobacteria of the Bacillus and Pseudomonas genera. Bacillus species have proved to be effective and play a crucial role in the field of bioagents. They have been illustrated as systemic resistance inducer and plant growth promoter. They could produce a broad range of competitors for growth factors and antimicrobial compounds such as enzymes, lipopeptides, and antibiotics. At this point, we focus on details on the versatile application of bacillus-based products. In this context, biocontrol utilizing bacillus species against banana diseases will be presented and verify to serve as a promising alternate to the use of chemicals.