Data were collected from June to November 2019 in the large banana and plantain production area in southern Benin. The four most important bananas and plantains production districts were selected to carry out this study: Mono (Athiémé, Lokossa, Comè); Atlantique (Tori, Zè, Sèhouè, Ouègbo, Allada), Ouémé (Akpo-Missrété, Dangbo) and Plateau. There are 2 rainy seasons (a long season and a short season) and 2 dry seasons (a long dry season and a short dry season). The average annual rainfall was 1300 mm of water and the average annual temperature was 28˚C. The soils were mainly vertisols and clayey type, very rich in minerals and contribute to a better productivity of bananas and plantains in the region of Toffo. The regions of Mono and Ouémé have ferruginous and sandy soils and lowlands favorable to the production.

In each selected district, 10 villages with 6 farmers per village were selected for the survey. Within villages, firstly, a Key Informant Interview (KII) was granted to the village chief to explain the interest of the study to him and then he gives us the list of some bananas and plantains producers. Then, other bananas and plantains producers were identified asking farmers interviewed. Farmers included in the study owned at least 0.5 hectare of bananas and plantains fields in order to ensure the importance that this crop represents in their daily agricultural activities.

Individual and focus group surveys were used to carry out this study. Focus group survey brought together a large number of farmers in each selected village. The first step of the study concerned the socio-demographic characteristics of farmers (such as age, sex, marital status and number of experience years). Next, farmers were asked on their knowledge of organic farming and whether they are willing to pay the costs associated with the organic certification process.

A characterization was carried out on the seed production systems of bananas and plantains in order to offer farmers the seed sustainable management. First, information was gathered on bananas and plantains seeds acquiring methods such as seed donation, seed sharing, seed loan and seed self-production. Next, types of bananas and plantains seed production systems, especially technology based on seedlings from banana stem fragments commonly referred to as PIF [15] [16], were identified. Seed production systems using insecticides and those using biopesticides have been identified.

During the individual survey, farmers identified all production and marketing constraints linked to bananas and plantains value chain. These constraints were ranked according to their importance and then updated in relation to previous studies [2]. During the focus group survey (on average 10 farmers per village) carried out in each selected village, producers listed in order of importance the problems that undermine the production and marketing of bananas and plantains.

Based on the fact that a diversity of bananas and plantains cultivars existed in the study areas [2], farmers were asked to list the highly economical and productive elite cultivars in their districts. Then, the time and district availability of bunches of these cultivars were determined using scores. A score of 1 was attributed to cultivars with low bunch availability, score 2 for cultivars with moderate bunch availability and finally a score 3 for cultivars with high bunch availability.

During the survey, farmers were asked to list the agricultural practices they use on their plantations. The agricultural practices listed were ranked in order of importance according to their quote frequency by farmers. The presence of the main diseases and pests of bananas and plantains has been determined in 45 farmers’ fields. In each field, a field visit was organized in the morning of the day of the visit to identify diseases and pests. For the banana weevil, 20 pseudostem traps were used and placed randomly over the entire field for sampling [11] [12]. These traps were recorded 48 hours after installation to note the presence or absence of the pest in the field. Next, a few roots were taken from 20 randomly selected banana and plantain plants to observe galls and nematode damage spots in the laboratory in order to note the presence or absence of nematodes [17] [18]. The presence of symptoms (yellowing of the margins of the oldest leaves, wilting of the leaves with the constitution of a crown of dead leaves) of Fusarium sp. was sought and noted in each farmer’s field. The presence of symptoms of Bunchy Top Banana Disease (BBTD) including plants that have turned into flowers.

During focus group discussions, each agricultural practice was analyzed in a participatory manner with the farmers. Application modes of the practices have been detailed and then its deviation from organic farming practices is assessed using scores. A score of 1 (low level) means a small difference between the agricultural practice used and the practice of organic farming. The score 2 (mean level) means an average difference while the score 3 (high level) means a high difference between the agricultural practice used and the practice of organic farming.

The Generalized Linear Model (GLM) distribution and logit link with the binomial family were carried out to determine the effects of agricultural practices and types of crop associations on the presence of the major pests and diseases of bananas and plantains. The Generalized Linear Model (GLM) distribution and logit link with the binomial family were also used to determine the relationship between the modes of production and acquisition of banana and plantain seedlings, the availability of different cultivars, means of farmer’s communication and localities. Dendrograms were used to categorize the groups of banana production constraints. All the analyses were carried out in R [19] at the significant level of 5%.

A total of 210 banana and plantains farmers were surveyed in the 4 zones of high production. Farmer’s surveyed age varied from 39 to 47 years old with a mean age of 42 years. The majority of farmers were men especially in the Plateau district where no female banana/plantain farmers were surveyed. The most important presence of women (22.7% of farmers) in bananas and plantains production was found in the Ouémé district. Bananas and plantains farmers were generally monogamous with 31% as the highest rate of polygamy observed in the Atlantique district. The ethnic groups represented were Goun (100% of farmers of Ouémé and 81.8% for Plateau), Kotafon (72.50% of farmers of Mono), Aizo (54% of farmers of Atlantique) and Fon (21.7% of farmers of Atlantique). The majority of the farmers surveyed were Christians (71.77% of farmers), anemists (27.85% of farmers) and very few Muslims (0.62% of farmers). The Mono district followed by the Atlantique had lands available for agriculture especially for the production of bananas and plantains. However, farmers of the Ouémé and Plateau have more professional experiences. The latter were less associated in cooperatives or groups of farmers for the bananas and plantains production. The majority of farmers in Mono (80% of farmers), Ouémé (100% of farmers) and Plateau (100% of farmers) have a good knowledge of organic banana production systems. Additionally, very few Atlantique farmers (10.9% of farmers) knew the organic banana production. All the farmers surveyed were motivated to convert their production systems into organic production systems and the majority of them were ready to pay the costs of the certification process for their organic products. The main activities of surveyed farmers were agriculture (91.25% of farmers) followed by animal breeding (47.05% of farmers) and food processing (29.47% of farmers) (Table 1).

Production and acquisition of banana and plantain seedlings varied according to the production zones (P < 0.00001). Self-production of banana and plantain seedlings was widespread in production areas (96% of farmers). The purchase (51.83% of farmers) and donation (48.35% of farmers) of banana and plantain seedlings were also developed by some farmers. The production of bananas and plantains seedlings by the technology of plants resulting from stem fragments (named as PIF in French) were moderately used in the production area. Very few farmers inherited, collected and lent seeds of bananas. Few farmers have a good knowledge of organic banana seedling production using biopesticides (Figure 1).

In total, the availability of 26 cultivars of bananas and plantains has been identified as major cultivars in the production areas (Figure 2). The availability of these cultivars varied across time and production areas (P < 0.00001, Df = 27). In the Atlantique district, cultivars were highly available towards the end of the year. In Mono district, several cultivars were moderately available at the year starting and had become highly available throughout the year. In Ouémé district, all cultivars were poorly available in the first half of the year and had become highly available in the second half of the year. Finally, in the Plateau district, a few cultivars that were poorly available at the year starting became highly available from April to May (Figure 3).

Statistical analyzes revealed significant negative effects of agricultural practices on the presence of the major banana pests (Table 2). The most frequent agricultural practices used to face this issue were crop association (89.30% of farmers, Table 3), mechanical destruction of diseased plants (51.07% of farmers), banana plantations in shallows (30.10% of farmers), crop rotation (16.85% of farmers), compost use (9.65% of farmers), poultry manure use (7.92% of farmers) and herbicide use (6.82% of farmers). Other agricultural practices were less frequently used by farmers (<5% of farmers) (Figure 4). The use of biopesticides, trap plants, composts, crop rotation and crop association have significant negative effects on the presence of the banana weevil. The use of manures and crop associations have significant negative effects on the presence of Fusarium sp 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 on the presence of BBTV while the use of biopesticides and repellent plants have significant positive effects (Table 4).

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 (Table 5). 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 (BBTD), phytophagous nematodes and banana weevil. Almost all farmers in Ouémé 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 Ouémé and Plateau districts used Glyphosate (1% of farmers in the Plateau), Sharp 480 (2.33% of farmers of Ouémé) and Le Lagon (2.75% of farmers of Ouémé) 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 (15.4%) observed banana weevil damage in production systems up to 25% while the majority of farmers in all districts observed minor damage of up to 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 (130 kg/hectare), ashes associated to motor oil (4 kg/hectare), ashes associated to oil neem (500 kg/hectare) and neem oil associated with neem leaf extracts (50 kg/hectare) (Table 6).

Banana and plantain production was limited by 12 factors, the most important of which were banana plants fall related to the wind (88.65% of farmers), the lack of financial support to irrigate banana fields (71.85% of farmers), climate changes (66.55% of farmers), no availability of cultivable lands (60.32% of farmers) and low rainfall (50.72% of farmers). Low quality of banana seedlings (0.55% of farmers) was the least cited factor (Table 7). After production constraints, farmers

frequently cited 15 major problems that hamper the development of bananas and plantains value chain (Table 8). The dendrogram realized made it possible to categorize the problems into 5 groups according to their importance. The first 3 groups were the most important. The first group was made up of problems such as difficult access to biofertilizers and biopesticides, difficult access to plant materials, high price of seedlings, and problems of plant fall. The 2nd group consisted only of climatic hazards. The third group was made up of low financial resources and difficult weed management. Regarding commercialization constraints (Table 9), low sale price (50.72% of farmers) and difficult access to sales markets (37.02% of farmers) were the most important. The short storage period (3.40% of farmers), difficulty in accessing market information (3.90% of farmers) were the least important constraints (Figure 5). The dendrogram produced made it possible to categorize the marketing constraints into 2 groups according to their importance (Figure 6).

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 (Table 10). The majority of farmers (100%) could attend meetings and training while some farmers (80%) 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 while 65% of them could exchange SMS messages on innovate agroecological practices. Few farmers (10%) with smartphones could exchange wathsapp messages on organic banana field management (Figure 7). There was a significant variation in the means of communication of farmers across the localities (P < 0.00001; Df = 12).