The use of manures and crop associations have significant negative effects on the presence of Fusariumsp while the use of biopesticides, irrigation and trap plants have significant negative effects on its presence. The use of biopesticides, agrochemicals, trap plants,crop rotation and crop association have significant negative effects on the presence of nematodes while cultivar resistance, irrigation, repellent plants, manure and shallow have significant positive effects. The use of trap plants, herbicides,shallows and the destruction of disease plants have significant negative effects onthe presence of BBTV while the use of biopesticides and repellent plants have significant positive effects . Bananas and plantains farmers surveyed used chemical fertilizers and organic. In the Atlantique district, none of farmers surveyed used chemical fertilizers, but they used composts and poultry manure.

In the other 3 districts, the majority of farmers used chemical fertilizers and a few used composts, poultry manure and cow dung . Regarding the management of diseases and pests in banana and plantain cropping systems, farmers provided information on the knowledge and management of Banana Bunchy Top Disease , phytophagous nematodes and banana weevil. Almost all farmers in Oueme and Plateau and a few farmers in Atlantic and Mono have a good knowledge of the manifestations of BBTD and its symptoms. No farmer in the Atlantique and Mono districts knew about BBTD management methods. Very few farmers in the Oueme and Plateau districts used Glyphosate , Sharp 480 and Le Lagon to fight BBTD.No organic product were used to fight BBTD. In the 4 districts, a few farmers knew how to identify the damage caused by the banana weevil. Farmers in the Atlantique observed banana weevil damage in production systems up to25% while the majority of farmers in all districts observed minor damage of upto 5%. The majority of farmers in the 4 districts had a good knowledge of the symptoms and damage of phytophagous nematodes. The majority of Atlantique farmers used ashes , ashes associated to motor oil mobile grow system ,ashes associated to oil neem and neem oil associated with neem leaf extracts.

The farmers have a good knowledge of some organic farming practices such as organic fertilizers use, mulch use, biopesticides use, seed organic treatment and low knowledge for others practices . The majority of farmers could attend meetings and training while some farmers could follow information on the agroecological practices on local radios. Regarding the use of phones and smartphones, 90% of the farmers surveyed had mobile phones while65% of them could exchange SMS messages on innovate agroecological practices.Few farmers with smartphones could exchange waths app messages on organic banana field management . There was a significant variation in the means of communication of farmers across the localities . The present study has shown various modes of bananas and plantains seeds acquisition which are loan, donation and sharing. The most widely used procurement method was self-production, which could be explained by the regeneration of banana plants from the main plant. This method of acquiring seeds has been improved by farmers who use the banana stalk to produce ten to twenty seedlings by a technology called plants from stem fragments . The PIF technology requires the use of agrochemicals to disinfect seed production systems. This agricultural practice does not respect organic farming principles and needs to be improved by the use of biopesticides such as neem oils.

Our results also showed the availability of 26 elite bananas and plantain cultivars in the production areas. This study focused on the most important cultivars unlike other studies which revealed a high diversity of cultivated bananas and plantains. Many cultivars of bananas and plantains are available during the rainy seasons thus showing that these production systems depend on the rains. These agricultural practices combined with good soil fertilization could improve production systems and make bananas and plantains available all year round . Unfortunately, few farmers invest in improving bananas and plantains production systems through innovative technologies. This result could be explained by the fact that in study area bananas and plantains have been neglected.