A new study has confirmed that the most popular banana, known as Cavendish, is at serious risk from Panama disease, which is a fungicide-resistant pathogen. Researchers in the Netherlands say that the problem is inevitable and that it’s only a matter of time before it reaches Latin America, the main exporter of the bananas found in our shops.
What is Panama disease?
Well, for one, it’s not new. In the 1960s, the same disease led to the then favourite banana to near-extinction. Panama disease can stay inactive in the soil for up to 30 years. Because of this, farmers find it impossible to know whether or not their crops have it without a form of testing, which doesn’t exist.
Once the disease has found its way to the root system, the banana turns a yellow-brown colour as a result of the lack of the water, and it then dies very quickly due to dehydration.
The Cavendish banana may have been immune to Panama disease in the 1960s, but this new strain (Tropical Race 4) puts it at risk. The fact that these bananas are clones of each other, means that they can’t reproduce or evolve. In the survival of the fittest banana, it has become defenseless against the disease.
What happens next?
According to Guilford reports, bananas won’t just disappear overnight, but they will eventually decline in a really big way if things don’t start to change.
Right now, there’s no way to check if crops have the disease or not, but experts are calling for an elimination of the infected crops. Scientists need to invent a new diagnostic test that can help detect the disease in plantations to help save the world’s beloved fruit.
Picture: Igor Madjinca [
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.