BBC (Aug 6, 2013) | Caribbean banana farmers are abandoning fields where crops have been ravaged by disease, it seems. And it’s apparently making the problem worse. Black Sigatoka has affected several countries in the region, including Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada and Guyana, prompting the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization to step in to support farmers. But in St Vincent and the Grenadines, ministers say efforts to eradicate the disease by cutting back crops with the tell-tale blackened leaves are being hampered by some farmers failing to replant with disease-free varieties or alternative crops, reports the Caribbean Media Corporation news agency.