Bwa-yo - Société Audubon Haiti

84 Kokoye
Figure 10.8 Lethal yellowing can reach epidemic
levels, as shown here in Baie-de-Henne
in 1988.
reached into the interior at Camp
Coq, about 10 km south of Limbe.
Theobald (1989) found the disease to
be well developed in the Port-de-Paix
area during his survey. During the latter
part of the 1980s, the disease had
spread to the southern coast of the
northwest peninsula at Baie-de­
Henne (Fig. 10.8), traversed the
Artibonite, and extended as far south
as Arcahaie. By 1992, lethal yellowing
progressed to the southern peninsula,
attacking spots between Port-au­
Prince and Leogane. Figure lOA
shows the distribution of the disease
in Haiti. The spread of the disease
appears to be spotty and slow in Haiti.
A program was initiated by the
Ministry of Agriculture during the
mid-1970s to test new cultivars that
might be more resistant to lethal yellowing
and at the same time be more
productive. Two experimental trials,
located at Grand Pre and Levy, were
established in 1976. Four Tall x
Dwarf hybrid varieties from West Africa were compared with the local Jamaica Tall
variety in a randomized complete block design. These trials were evaluated in 1989 by
International Resources Group, Inc. The Levy trial showed no symptoms of lethal yellowing,
though several palms were missing of unknown causes and two palms showed
typical bud rot symptoms. By contrast, at Grand Pre, individuals ofall cultivars showed
symptoms of LY. The status of the trial at the time of the 1989 visit is summarized in
Table 10.2. The susceptibility of the Jamaica Tall variety to LY, well known in the literature
(Whitehead, 1968; Harries, 1974; Been, 1981; Howard and Barrant, 1989) appears
to be supported by the data in the trial. The susceptibility of the Yellow Malayan Dwarf
Table 10.2 Status of the Ministry of Agriculture Grand Pre trial in 1989, 13 years after
establishment.
VARIETY NON-INFECTED LYINFECTED DEAD TOTAL
Yellow Malayan Dwarf x 81 18 100
West African Tall
Red Cameroon Dwarf x 81 15 100
Wesl African Tall
Green Malayan Dwarf x 68 29 100
West African Tall
Yellow Malayan Dwarf 55 42 100
Local Jamaica Tall 53 42 100