Planting bananas without ... soil

The Wageningen University team in the Netherlands this week will harvest the first banana grown without soil . The project aims to prevent Panama fungal disease - the disease "afflicts" many farmers, including Vietnam.

The research was conducted in collaboration with the world's leading banana producer and supplier Chiquita Brands International.

According to Financial Times, Professor Kema and his colleagues are also studying banana breeding programs using antifungible banana varieties.

Cavendish banana variety (South American banana) - (Photo: ALAMY).

"The core of our strategy is to diversify banana products," said Gert Kema, a leading banana expert and head of the Tropical Plant Department of Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Panama fungal disease (also known as "Panama leaf yellow disease" in bananas) is a fungal disease caused by soil fungus. In Vietnam, this disease is one of the problems in domestic banana production.

The disease spreads through soil circulation, mainly by workers and machines. Accordingly, growing bananas in the greenhouse using rockwool and plant nutrients will help isolate bananas from this fungus.

Determined in Taiwan in the early 1960s, the Panama fungal TR4 strain spread throughout Asia and Australia, spreading to the coast of Mozambique and to the Middle East.

It is feared that the fungal strain will spread to Latin America and seriously threaten farms that provide three-quarters of the world's banana exports.

Scientists are trying to find solutions to prevent Panama fungal disease. However, there is currently no effective way to deal with the situation of banana plant infection.

The only solution now is to try to prevent the transfer of contaminated soil, plants infected with fungi and infected materials to areas without disease.

Panama fungal disease is devastating banana crops on many farms around the world, threatening the development of Cavendish bananas (South American bananas), banana varieties that account for 95% of the total banana sales in the industry. worth $ 36 billion worldwide.