Banana+Infestation

= = = Banana Infestation =

Based on an increasing rate of infestation it will take approximately 80-90 days to infest the banana plantations on the island with aphids and therefore the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV).
 * __//How many days will it take for the Banana Bunchy Top Virus to spread to all plantations and wipe out our banana industry?//__**



__//**How much will this cost the economy?**//__ With 1 bunch of Bananas weighing 40kg, and 25x 40kg bunches making up a tonne of Bananas valued at $994, the Port's 25 hectare Banana plantation of 55,935 plants, producing 2,237 tonnes of Bananas is worth $2,223,578 each year. Based on these statistics, the Island's total 2,326,104 Banana plants producing 93,044 tonnes of Bananas per year, provide the Island with $92,485,736 of revenue per year. If the Banana Aphids were to spread and infest large of the Island's Banana plantations, it would cause considerable loss of revenue and potentially cripple the economy of the Island in it's infancy.

__//**Who needs to be told about this threat?**//__ As the aphids were possible bought to the island via a hemp plant importation it is best to advise the people who we purchased the hemp from to inform them of the possibility of an aphid infestation. We also need to advise countries which we recently sold our bananas to as they could contain the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV). __//**What will you need to tell them?**//__ We will need to inform them that we have found aphids on our plants and our plants have contracted BBTV. Inform them of the characteristics of the virus which include:
 * dark green streaks in the veins of lower portions of the leaf midrib and the leaf stem
 * dark green, hook-like extensions of the leaf lamina veins can be seen in the narrow
 * light-green zone between the midrib and the lamina.
 * new leaves emerge with difficulty, are narrower than normal, are wavy rather than flat, and have yellow (chlorotic) leaf margins. They appear to be “bunched” at the top of the plant, the symptom for which this disease is named.

European Bioformatics Institue, (2011).
 * Severely infected banana plants usually will not fruit, but if fruit is produced, the banana hands and fingers are likely to be distorted and twisted.

Wikipedia, (2011).

__//**How will you communicate your warnings to them?**//__ We would communicate this warning via our satellite telephones immediately we would also send an email outlining the symptoms of the virus and the aphids.

__//**What measures need to be taken to minimize the threat - how can we contain this outbreak?**//__

In order to protect the remaining banana healthy plantations we will be developing a non-chemical aphid repellent spray which makes the aphids drop from the plants. The repellent spray contains dead aphids which releases a chemical signal to other aphids that makes them drop from the plants(Golden Harvest Organics LLC, 2011). We will also be mass manufacturing this repellent for other settlements in order to protect their crops. In severe cases the banana hand with a plastic bag covered in the repellent. As another preventative measure we will be importing ladybugs. Ladybugs are a natural predator for the aphids and therefore will eat them and stop them from eating our bananas. We will be importing one gallon of ladybugs from Gardening Zone.com at a cost of $100.00 including shipping (Gardeningzone.com, 2010). This provide approximately 72,000 live ladybugs. This is an investment in our future as the ladybugs will not need to be purchased again as they will reproduce.

Wikipedia, (2011)