Matbagan, Julius L.2026-01-092026-01-092006-03Matbaga, J. L. (2006). Occurence and severity of black sigatoka disease (Mycosphaerella fijiensis morelet) at the early reproductive stage in tissue-cultured bananas. [Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis]. Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University - North La Union Campus, Sapilang, Bacnotan, La Union. Lakasa ti Sirib, DMMMSU Institutional Repository.https://lakasa.dmmmsu.edu.ph/handle/123456789/760Banana is a premier fruit of Asia and the Pacific. However, plant diseases posed the greatest economic losses in terms of production, like the Black Sigatoka disease. The study was conducted at the existing PCARRD - DOST banana project at the North La Union Campus, Bacnotan, La Union from January 15, 2005 to February 17, 2006. It aimed at assessing the occurrence and severity of black sigatoka disease in two banana varieties, namely: Lakatan and FH1A-18. The two cultivars served as treatment and were laid out using the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in three replications. They were grown and maintained following the recommended cultural management practices for banana. Analysis of Variance was used to determine the differences in the growth characteristics of two banana cultivars. Based on the result of the study, the number of days from planting to shooting of FH1A-18 was 320.54 days or earlier than Lakatan by 36 days. The number of functional leaves six months after planting and at shooting of FH1A-18 was more than the functional leaves produced by Lakatan variety. The height of the banana pseudostem six months after planting showed FHIA-18 to be significantly taller (169.71 cm) than Lakatan (146.67 cm) At shooting stage however, FHIA-18 was shorter with a mean of 240.42 cm compared to Lakatan with a mean of 286.81 cm. The heart girth of the banana pseudostem at shooting stage did not vary in sizes in the two banana varieties. On the average, the youngest leaf spotted six months after planting for FH1A-18 is 10.02 whereas for Lakatan 5.13, it took 95.96 days before sigatoka disease developed in FH1A-18 compared to Lakatan's 32.46 days. This is an indication that FH1A-18 is significantly more resistant to sigatoka disease than Lakatan. Similarly, FHIA-18 showed less severity to sigatoka disease.en-USThesis