Banana Crisis

A fungus, called Tropical Race 4, threatens banana production across the globe.

16:49 04 December 2015

A new research published by journal PLOS Pathogen claims that bananas could soon become an endangered fruit due to "unstoppable" fungus called Tropical Race 4, which has already decimated the crop in Southeast Asia over a number of decades.

 

The fungus, which is now threatening Latin American, was first discovered in Australia, Jordan, Mozambique, Pakistan, and the Middle East and Africa in 2013.

 

The report said: "Ever since TR4 destroyed the Cavendish-based banana industry in Taiwan, its trail in Southeast Asia seems unstoppable with incursions and expansions in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, and Yunnan as well as on the island of Hainan,"

 

Scientists have compared it to a similar outbreak of Panama disease, which is responsible for the extinction of Gros Michel -- the then most popular variety - in the 1960s.

 

The report urged banana farmers to make "drastic strategy changes" to stop the fungus and to develop new resistant types of banana.

 

But the researchers warned: “Developing new banana cultivars