Scientists concerned for the fate of banana
Warning comes as Costa Rica declares 'national emergency' over state
of crop
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Warning comes as Costa Rica declares
‘national emergency’ over state of crop |
The world's supply of bananas is under threat from plagues of bugs
and fungal infections which could be disastrous if they continue to
spread, researchers say.
The government in Costa Rica, one of the biggest suppliers of the
fruit, has already declared a "national emergency" over the state of its
crop. The country's half-a-billion-dollar banana export industry has
been hit by two separate plagues of mealy-bugs and scale insects, with
up to 20 percent of its produce written off.
Magda Gonzalez, the director of the agriculture ministry, said last
week that climate change had boosted insect populations in recent years,
making plagues increasingly likely across the world.
"I can tell you with near certainty that climate change is behind
these pests," she said. The insects weaken plants and cause blemishes on
fruit, leading to vast batches being rejected. Ms Gonzalez said there
were serious concerns the country would not meet its export agreements.
Meanwhile, a Scientific American report warned of a variant of
banana-eating fungus which is currently threatening key plantations
around the world. Scientists believed the disease, caused by the fungus
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.cubense (Foc), was limited to parts of Asia and
Australia. Yet it has now been found in Jordan and Mozambique, and in a
new strain to which the vast majority of bananas are susceptible.
"It's a gigantic problem," said Rony Swennen, a breeder at the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania. Gert Kema, a Fusarium researcher at Wageningen University and
Research Centre in the Netherlands, co-authored the report on the
disease in Jordan. He told Scientific American: "I'm incredibly
concerned. I will not be surprised if it pops up in Latin America in the
near future." Combined with the threat of bugs, researchers said the
Foc-TR4 strain could threaten banana exports across the whole of Latin
American and the Caribbean - which accounts for more than 80 percent of
the world's supply.
- The Independent
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