Science proves we're going to have no bananas to eat

Banana farms around the world are at risk of being threatened by Panama epidemic, causing wilting and causing banana trees to die from dehydration. In the past, Gros Michel bananas were nearly extinct because of this epidemic.

Panama epidemic on bananas comes back

It sounds like a joke, but the truth is that bananas are confronted with a threat coming from the Panama epidemic - caused by a fungus called Fusarium oxysporumf sp.cubense . This epidemic has spread throughout South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, as well as in Australia. And despite human defense efforts, the Panama epidemic is in danger of continuing to cross the ocean to reach South America.

According to a new study conducted in the Netherlands, the translation of Panama spread to the South American region is unforeseen and extremely serious. Because this is where 82% of the Cavandish bananas (dwarf bananas) - the most common banana in the world - are exported to Ecuador for more than a third of the billion dollar market.

Banana Cavandish - which is a short-lived banana - is now the most popular banana in the world.

The Panama epidemic - also known as banana wilt - nearly made the bananas Gros Michel extinct in the 1960s. In fact, the disease was discovered in 1876, when banana farms at Australia suddenly falls into wilt. In 1890, the disease spread to Costa Rica and Panama, but no one knew exactly what caused the disease. It was not until 20 years later that the fungus Fusarium oxysporumf sp.cubense (Foc) was identified as the culprit.

Foc fungi can spread through soil and water, as well as underground for about 30 years. When the fungus finds a host to parasitize, it follows the roots of the plant to the xylem vessels - which are considered to be water pipes in plants. The infected tree will die very quickly because of the lack of water, the leaves wither dry and gradually turn to golden brown.

In the past, the Panama epidemic had devastated most of the banana orchards Gros Michel around the world, making this banana almost completely extinct. Only a few small banana gardens in Thailand are lucky to not be infected with this disease.

"At that time, fortunately, the Cavendish bananas - grown in botanical gardens in England - have been recognized as having the perfect potential to replace bananas Gros Michel. tissue culture, banana gardens around the globe have turned green after the epidemic " - a researcher at Wageningen University said.

This is the cause of wilting in all banana farms in the world.

But now the Panama epidemic has returned, in the form of a new strain called VCG01213 , also known as Tropical Race 4 (TR4) . Botanists have confirmed that TR4 was a variant of the Panama epidemic the day before, and once again caused wilting in Cavendish banana gardens around the world.

"We learned that the source of TR4's spread came from Indonesia, then spread to Taiwan, China and throughout Southeast Asia," said Gert Kema, a member of the research team. According to him, the team found the pathogenic fungi in Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Mozambique, and both Queensland and Australia.

Although Cavendish bananas, despite being immune to previous Panamanian epidemics, before the new strain of TR4, they were completely "out of hand" . Also, because the Cavendish banana species are cloned to serve worldwide breeding, this banana does not exist capable of producing mutations that are immune to the new strain.

According to the team, the extinction of bananas will not happen overnight, but if we do not act soon, the past scenario will happen again."It takes a lot of time for TR4 to spread. But once the banana gardens are infected, there is no way to cure it," said Guilford: "Taiwan now only has 2% of bananas compared to 60s of last century ".

Fixing this completely is not easy. If you want to quickly eliminate infected banana plants, scientists need to find a new test method to diagnose soil-borne diseases, as well as in seed sources. As a precaution, we should also develop a new banana variety, replacing the Cavendish species.

"However, wanting to create and propagate a new banana species requires investment in research and development from the scientific community, as well as bananas as a cash crop that supports the livelihoods of millions of farmers. around the world " - researchers concluded.