Xanthomonas wilt is a major constraint to banana production in the East and Central Africa. The disease can cause up to 100% yield losses if proper management strategies are not well implemented. Understanding of disease status, driving factors and farmers' knowledge provide insights towards a sustainable management approach. A total of 120 and 150 banana farms from eight and ten districts of Rwanda were surveyed for disease occurrence in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The owners of the farms were interviewed about disease knowledge, management practices, and source of information in these aspects. The results show that Xanthomonas wilt was present in all surveyed districts with high incidence (above 45% in both 2015 and 2016) in major banana growing areas, highlighting the risk of increasing yield losses. High Xanthomonas wilt incidence and severity was associated with Impara and Eastern plateau agro-ecological zones, intercropping systems, brewing bananas, dense spacing, and homogenous cultivars. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the gravity of Xanthomonas wilt in major banana growing areas of Rwanda. This agrees with the finding that proper implementation of management practices by the farmers remains limited. Disease management difficulties could be attributed to inaccessibility to the right information since some information sources may be unreliable. We also report for the first time that fields with a mixture of indigenous and improved cultivars are likely to have low Xanthomonas wilt disease severity (p < 0.005), and this could be considered in banana Xanthomonas wilt management package. Our findings are essential to understand the urgency of improving extension services with updated practices and reinforcing disease monitoring efforts in order to stop new infections and further spread of the Xanthomonas wilt disease, a threat to sustainable banana production in Rwanda.

Potato is an important food commodity and efforts to increase its productivity should focus on addressing production limiting factors. Potato bacterial wilt (PBW) caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the major constraints to potato production in Rwanda and no single method effectively controls the disease. Development of a sustainable management approach requires understanding of PBW distribution, risk factors, farmers' knowledge and management attitudes. Therefore, we surveyed PBW disease and interviewed farmers in eight districts of Rwanda during March-April 2015. We detected PBW in all the surveyed districts and it was ranked as the major potato disease constraint. Among districts, disease incidence and severity varied from 5 to 24% and 3 to 13%, respectively, and was significantly higher in minor compared to major potato growing districts. Low PBW incidence and severity were associated with high altitude and low planting density, intercropping, crop rotation and avoidance of sharing farm tools. In all districts, farmers had little knowledge about PBW detection and spread, and the farmers' awareness of PBW management was often inconsistent with their practices. This incomplete knowledge about PBW was likely caused by inadequate extension services since most information about PBW was acquired from fellow farmers, parents or other relatives. Thus raising awareness of PBW and integrated disease management, including practices that are associated with low PBW, could limit the impact of this disease and help to secure food and income for potato growing farmers in Rwanda.

Members of the Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC), causing potato bacterial wilt or brown rot, are highly contagious and there are no known cultivars with durable resistance to the pathogen. This study hypothesized (a) that crops intercropped or rotated with potato, plants in the same family, and plants grown in the neighbouring fields can host the pathogen and they can be potential sources of primary inoculum, and (b) that potato cultivars currently multiplied by the public tissue culture laboratory in Rwanda are less susceptible to the pathogen. Fourteen plant species and potato, and nine potato cultivars were tested for susceptibility to an RSSC phylotype II strain under greenhouse conditions. The bacteria induced symptoms on potato, tomato, tree tomato, sweet pepper, and eggplant only. Among the plant species with symptoms, potato, tomato, and tree tomato wilted completely. There was a significant difference in days to symptom expression and to complete wilting (p < .0001). While all tested potato cultivars were found to be susceptible, the number of days to first symptom expression, days to complete wilting, area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), and the number and weight of harvested tubers varied considerably. Cultivars Cruza, Kinigi, and CIP‐58 were less susceptible whereas the cultivars Gikungu, Kirundo, and Victoria were highly susceptible. There is a strong need to search for other sources of resistance. The results indicate that some plant species that might serve as a reservoir of the bacterium should be avoided in the vicinity of potato crops.