Banana crown rot is caused by a parasitic complex of fungal origin, with symptoms most often appearing after harvest. The source-sink ratio has an impact on disease development that could be deleterious with a high Black Leaf Streak Disease pressure. The aim of this work was to assess the effects of hand removal as a lever to rebalance this ratio to control crown rot in a production context. The results confirmed a significant effect of hand number and functional leaf area on banana susceptibility to crown rot. A high source-sink ratio resulting from hand removal enabled the fruit to better resist disease with limited impact on yield.