Abstract:
Anthracnose is one of the significant diseases in banana
fruits, which is widely reported throughout Sri Lanka. The present
study aimed to survey the prevalence and intensity of anthracnose of
banana in major fruit stalls in Ninthavur Divisional Secretariat (DS)
of the Ampara district. It was a cross-sectional study conducted from
May to August 2020. A purposive sampling method was made to
select the DS area in the Ampara district, and a random sampling
approach was used to choose fruit stalls. About 80 fruit sellers
were interviewed by using a pre-tested back-translated questionnaire.
Simultaneously, the researcher carried out anthracnose disease intensity assessment for all the varieties by giving 0-4 scale scores.
Results revealed that banana anthracnose is prevalence in varieties
such as ’Puli kathali’ or ’Ambul kesel’, Kolikkoodu’, ’Etharai’
and ’Seeni kathali’ or ’Seeni kesel’ throughout the study area. In
comparison, less anthracnose found in the variety ’Ambon’. There
was a significant association (p=0.015) between means of keeping
banana during transportation and anthracnose disease intensity for
variety ’puli kathali’. However, anthracnose disease intensity of other
varieties did not significantly associate each other. Further, ordinal
regression analysis showed that disease intensity of varieties’ Puli
kathali’, ’Seeni Kathali’ and ’Kolikkoodu’ were lesser than the
disease intensity of variety ”Etharai” irrespective of the handling
practices of the seller. It could conclude that varietal differences and
improper handling practices during the transport significantly affect
the prevalence and intensity of anthracnose disease in banana fruits
in the Ampara district’s Ninthavur DS area
