Reply #2: The common food bananas are seedless mutants that have to cultivated vegetatively

[struggle4progress]

So the crop has certain vulnerabilities. Here are some stories common a few years back

Fungus Threatens Banana Crops
Some Experts Believe Bananas May Need Genetic Modification
Aug. 14, 2005
The most popular type of banana -- Americans' favorite fruit -- may be threatened by a fungus spreading throughout plantations in Southeast Asia. According to the International Banana Association, the average American eats more than 28 pounds of bananas a year ... But an article in the August 2005 edition of Popular Science magazine suggests a fungal disease called Panama Disease Race 4 could threaten the existence of the Cavendish, the most widespread variety of banana sold in markets around the world. Panama Disease Race 4, has been found in Southeast Asia, Australia and Indonesia, and some experts believe it could be only a matter of years before that fungus spreads to Latin America, the United States' main source of its favorite bananas ...
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Science/story?id=1036562&page=1

Last updated May 22, 2008 12:38 p.m. PT
Why bananas are a parable for our times
JOHANN HARI
... Bananas are dying ... It is a fungus called Panama Disease, and it turns bananas brick-red and inedible. There is no cure ... Soon -- in five, 10 or 30 years -- the yellow creamy fruit as we know it will not exist ... Until 150 ago, a vast array of bananas grew in the world's jungles and they were invariably consumed nearby. Some were sweet; some were sour. They were green or purple or yellow. A corporation called United Fruit took one particular type -- the Gros Michael -- out of the jungle and decided to mass produce it on vast plantations, shipping it on refrigerated boats across the globe. The banana was standardized into one friendly model: yellow and creamy and handy for your lunchbox ...
http://www.seattlepi.com/opinion/364179_bananaonline23.html