The director of Vegetation Sanitation at the Ministry of Agriculture has warned that Black Sigatoka is now found in the DR. It is a leaf disease that causes yield losses of 50% or more, premature ripening and is a serious defect in exported fruit. He said all efforts must be expended to prevent the disease from reaching the plantations of the Central Cibao, the largest in the country. Dominican plantain exports were recently returned from Puerto Rico after the disease was detected in the shipment. The disease is controlled with costly but necessary frequent applications of fungicide, removal of affected leaves, adequate spacing of plants and efficient drainage within plantations.
