The banana is one step closer to disappearing

[douglas9]

A fungus that has wreaked havoc on banana plantations in the Eastern Hemisphere has, despite years of preventative efforts, arrived in the Americas.

ICA, the Colombian agriculture and livestock authority, confirmed on Thursday that laboratory tests have positively identified the presence of so-called Panama disease Tropical Race 4 on banana farms in the Caribbean coastal region. The announcement was accompanied by a declaration of a national state of emergency.

The discovery of the fungus represents a potential impending disaster for bananas as both a food source and an export commodity. Panama disease Tropical Race 4—or TR4—is an infection of the banana plant by a fungus of the genus Fusarium. Although bananas produced in infected soil are not unsafe for humans, infected plants eventually stop bearing fruit.

First identified in Taiwanese soil samples in the early 1990s, the destructive fungus remained long confined to Southeast Asia and Australia, until its presence was confirmed in both the Middle East and Africa in 2013. Experts feared an eventual appearance in Latin America, the epicenter of the global banana export industry.

“Once you see it, it is too late, and it has likely already spread outside that zone without recognition,” says Gert Kema, Professor of Tropical Phytopathology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands whose lab analyzed soil samples to confirm TR4 in Colombia, as well as in earlier outbreaks.


https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/banana-fungus-latin-america-threatening-future/

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Looks like we're going to see some new varieties of banana for sale.

I don't really like the Cavendish variety that's now sold everywhere, anyway. I don't want to see the people down in Central America lose a source of income; that's the last thing they need. But I will be glad to see some new varieties of the fruit.

[crazytown]

2. History repeating

The Gros Michel was the predominant banana until Panama disease wiped it out. Monoculture invites disaster, but, like you, I won't mourn the demise of the Cavendish.