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What kind of future for the banana? |
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Almost everywhere, the quantities of bananas harvested are falling short of their potential, in great part because of pests and diseases. While large commercial plantations can pass on the cost of protecting the crop to their customers, the livelihoods of small-scale farmers buckle under the strain of declining production, driving some to give up on the more disease-prone varieties and others to give up growing bananas altogether. The diversity of bananas is also threatened by the pressure to grow marketable varieties and the popularity of imported foods.
The banana’s number one enemy
The main threat to bananas worldwide is a fungus that causes black leaf streak disease, commonly known as black Sigatoka. Left unchecked, the disease can reduce harvests by half or more. By attacking the leaves, the fungus disrupts the process of photosynthesis that feeds the growing bunch.
The revenge of the fungus
Fusarium wilt, commonly known as Panama disease, is an essentially untreatable disease that wiped out the plantations of Gros Michel export banana and led to its replacement by resistant Cavendish bananas. A new form of the soil-dwelling fungus capable of attacking Cavendish bananas has since appeared in Asia.
The hidden perils
The banana plant is eaten from within by all sorts of small organisms invisible to the eye. Microscopic worms, called nematodes, attack the roots of the banana plant. Viruses and bacteria can also cause devastating diseases.
The future is already in nature
Many of the solutions to the banana’s pest and disease problems can be found among things farmers used to do, such as growing a diversity of crops and cultivars and using compost or manure as fertilizer.
Hungry for improvement
Seedlessness made the banana palatable but difficult to breed. Breeders take advantage of the residual fertility of some cultivars and cross them with wild species that have a sought-after character, such as disease resistance.
A breeding breakthrough
The first centre to succeed in producing banana hybrids was the Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola in Honduras. Banana breeding progammes have since been started in Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, India, Uganda and France, but you can still count all the banana breeders in the world on the fingers of two hands.
Tailor-made bananas
Genetic modification offers the possibility of injecting one or several useful genes into a plant without changing its existing characteristics. Since bananas do not produce pollen, they cannot donate the introduced genes to other plants.
Use it or lose it!
Farmers used to grow a diversity of bananas to satisfy their different needs, uses and tastes. This environmentally-friendly tradition can be hard to sustain as the pressure on farmers to grow marketable varieties increases. |
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Why bananas matter 