A seasoned banana grower, Imdad Nizamani from Tando Allahyar’s Tando Soomro area, avoids visiting his banana orchard these days. Once, taking care of the crop was part of his routine.
His 400-acre banana orchard faces a serious issue: Fusarium Wilt (Panama Wilt, Tropical Race-4), which has so far devoured the banana crop on 100 acres of his sprawling orchard. Around 30 per cent of the remaining acreage also shows signs of disease.
In Sindh, Mr Nizamani is known for his agricultural practices, which involve applying modern methods to manage his mango and banana farms. “I avoid going into [banana] orchard because if I enter the area, my shoes will carry spores of the fungus from the infected part to the unaffected side of the orchard,” he says.
Four years ago, he had lost 100 acres in the Chambar area of the same district due to the same disease. His friend from neighbouring Mirpurkhas district, Karamullah Saand, also has a similar story of serious damage to the banana crop on his lands in Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas, and Badin.
Farmers are watching acres of bananas being infected by soil-borne disease Fusarium Wilt
“I lost 100 acres in Chambar in 2020-21, and now it is affecting my Tando Soomro farm,” said Mr Nizamani. While plants had developed it, there have been no noticeable signs of it, he said. Tando Allahyar’s neighbouring Matiari district has not reported it, said banana producer Haji Nadeem Shah.
Banana is Sindh’s exclusive crop. It reaches across Pakistan year-round, owing to its different maturity cycles, which peak from September to December. However, over a decade ago, it was nearly wiped out in Thatta, a coastal area then known as the banana-growing region. Today, banana is mostly grown in the riverine belt, and that too by politically influential men of the district.
Over the last few years, the disease has made its presence felt in Tando Allahyar and parts of Mirpurkhas district, such as Digri, with growers taking their own precautions. This year, according to Mr Saand, the disease dealt a severe blow to bananas, leaving growers helpless.
After noticing the disease in the Tando Allahyar orchard, Mr Saand had isolated that half-acre plot to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the area, but it didn’t yield the desired results. “It’s a soil-borne fungus which doesn’t spare the crop. It starts from the root with leaves turning yellow before the entire stem dies,” he observed.
According to him, it was almost like a communicable disease among humans. It spread from one area to another through multiple movements/activities. Labourers who plucked bananas or animals moving around the orchard could spread the disease to other places.
“Irrigation water supplies can carry it to other parts of land, or the vehicles used for loading or unloading bananas in fungus-prone areas can spread it around,” he said. Fungus could reach other locations through canal water because, conventionally, farm workers in rural areas throw the remainder of the banana after harvesting near or inside canals, contaminating them in the process.
Mr Saand also has to contend with losses in his banana orchard. He confirmed having lost over 50pc of its 104 acres in Tando Allahyar’s Pyaro Lund area and was trying to salvage 53 acres. He was struggling to save the crop in Digri, a part of Mirpurkhas. In Tando Bago, Badin, he lost 10 acres of banana-producing land out of his 17 acres.
His calculations show a loss of Rs650,000-Rs700,000 per acre. An investment of Rs150,000 per acre was made in the banana business. “About 13 out of 53 acres show strong symptoms of diseases post-rains this summer. Its survival chances look bleak,” he believed.
Once the disease affects the crop, each banana plant begins to weaken. When the disease sets in, the fruit remains unhealthy, with its bunch of fingers becoming weak. The bunches start falling, denying farmers their economic returns.
Like sugarcane or mango, banana is also a labour-intensive crop, involving considerable human resources, the transport sector, traders, wholesalers, and, finally, pushcarts that depend on it for their seasonal incomes.
Bananas grown in Tando Allahyar district’s lands have the potential to give 400-500 maunds per acre productivity when compared with 300-400 maunds per acre in Digri, according to Mr Saand.
He faces a dilemma. Even if he gives up growing bananas for the time being, he isn’t sure whether he can regrow the crop on the same land in the near term. Since the disease affected fruit quality, the selling price plummeted in October 2025 to Rs800 per 40kg from last year’s Rs1,200-Rs1,500 per 40kg, recording a 33pc-46pc loss.
Banana earns yields year-round, depending on its maturity period, offering orchard owners varying profit margins. Growers like Mr Saand noted that they could recover their initial investment through intercropping with red chillies or cotton, after which the fruit harvest becomes steady and profitable. Land under banana cultivation has its advantages too. “It allows carbon fixation and remains shaded, which helps preserve soil nutrients,” he added.
Sindh government’s agriculture researchers conceded that diseases had been affecting the crop for the last two years, but their severity increased this year. They traced the disease’s origin to Australia in 1874, West Bengal, India, in 1911, and Thatta in 2013. Plant pathologists surveyed banana-growing areas in Sindh, collecting 74 samples, whose culture tests were conducted at the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in Islamabad for molecular identification, which confirmed its presence in Thatta, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, and Sanghar.
DG Agriculture Research Sindh, Dr Mazharuddin Keerio, disclosed that it began affecting crops two years ago, but this year the damage was indeed serious. He said that growers with 50pc of their land under diseased crops would have to terminate those crops and opt for any other summer/winter crop. “If a grower finds his crop healthy, he is advised to use bio-agents prescribed by us,” he said.
In terms of the banana trade this year, supplies to Iran were continuing. Trade with Afghanistan was stopped following the recent conflict. The fruit’s trade offers growers and traders impressive profit margins. Quality-1 crop was being exported to Iran for Rs2,300 per 40kg and the Dhaka variety for Rs2,100 per 40kg, according to banana grower-cum-trader, Irshad Jaskani from Tando Allahyar.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 10th, 2025
