Using Banana Fibers to Plant and Protect Potatoes

October 28th, 2022

By: Jose D. De Leon 

All across the world, the potato has formed the core of agricultural exports and local foodstuffs for many people and cultures. However, in East Africa, there is an increasing issue with Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCNs), specifically Globadera rostochiensis. These minuscule animals will flourish in the warm and wet soils, and will feast themselves on growing potatoes, breeding in the surrounding soils, and will proliferate throughout the agricultural industries of East Africa. In order to combat this, the pesticide ABM was used to protect potato crops, but the nematodes would be resistant to the pesticide over time. Scientists had theorized possible methods to gradually disseminate the pesticide ABM over time, thereby perpetually preventing nematode infestations, but lacked an effective medium to do so until the lignocellulosic matrix (LCM) found in banana plant fibers was observed. When 21 experiments using the LCM fibers which were loaded with ACM, wrapped around potato seeds and allowed to grow inside 21 potted plant environments which had potato cyst nematodes, the number of living nematodes sharply decreased. The lignocellulosic matrix of banana fibers were big enough to allow water and nutrients into the soil while also being able to retain the ACM to prevent PCNs from eating the developing potatoes. This process was estimated to increase harvests of potatoes fivefold, and would be utilizing waste products from the banana agricultural industry as well, having an effectively minimal cost increase while also increasing agricultural sustainability and environmental health. 


    
           Pictures demonstrating the growth process of the potatoes wrapped in the ACM-soaked LCM fibers (a-b), as well as the enumeration process of growing potatoes (c-e). (Ochola et al., 2022)

Ochola, J., Cortada, L., Mwaura, O. et al. 2022. Wrap-and-plant technology to manage sustainably potato cyst nematodes in East Africa. Nat Sustain 5, 425-433. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00852-5 

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