Banana Split: Fruit Fungus Could Foil Your Dinner Plans
A banana fruit fungus could lead to the end of the world … well, the world’s supply of the yellow fruit anyway. The cause of this impending global banana split is a disease which has struck the fruit supply in Southeast Asia, and spread to the Middle East and Africa. It might not eliminate the fruit right away, but it will eventually result in what scientists could be calling “bananageddon.”
The Panama disease is known to sap the water and nutrients from bananas and kill them early, and for now it might not effect the rest of the world, such as the UK and the US, but nothing is stopping the spread of the disease. Fusarium Wilt TR4 is the technical name for the Panama disease, and the only reason we haven’t been affected yet is that our main suppliers are in South America, particularly Ecuador.
#Caribbean banana producers warned to protect against fusarium wilt disease: http://t.co/VDu0de1cMz via Caribbean360
— Europa World (@EuropaWorld) April 22, 2014
The fruit fungus mostly attacks the Cavendish variety, which was once popular for its resistance to most varieties of disease. Cavendish accounts for almost half of the global supply of bananas, and spores of the TR4 strain can live in the soil for decades. Even if new banana trees are planted in the soil, it will still be there.
This doesn’t just extend to the inevitable banana split in food supply. It also affects jobs and national exports, and could create a serious crisis for the countries hosting the Panama disease.
You may be wondering why that would affect the rest of the world, but we are all interconnected, and after those countries run out of their primary export, some of the people might move to where it still exists (you can’t ethically stop people from moving). Trade might see healthy bananas suddenly being exported to those nations, and as a result, the soil could inadvertently find itself in a new habitat and begin to infect a fresh supply.
FAO warns of serious threat to the banana. Could comic slips, monkeys, and of course, access to food, all be at risk? http://t.co/0KOpah19XY
— Ian Murdoch (@IanABMurdoch) April 16, 2014
Steps are being taken to reduce cross-pollination of the TR4 strain fruit fungus, but eventually it will make its way around the globe. As Gert Kema, the director of banana research in the Netherlands, stated about the impending crisis, “It’s not a question of whether it will arrive but when. There’s no prevention.”
The banana split crisis won’t just attack the fruit we’ve come to enjoy as a part of our cereal or a snack for our simian friends. It will also affect tomatoes and tobacco. Smokers and pasta sauce aficionados will also feel the sting when the Panama disease goes global and the fruit fungus continues to destroy not only food, but also jobs and livelihoods.
