Bananas Going Extinct? Maybe, If Killer Pathogen Not Stopped

Are bananas going extinct? Researchers says it's possible if they can't stop a rampaging Panama plant-killer that has threatened the fruit staple worldwide.

A study published in the science journal PLOS Pathogens doesn't offer positive news for banana lovers. It tells how a single clone of the disease, called Tropic Race 4, has spread through Southeast Asia to the rest of the continent, reported Quartz.

"We know that the origin of (Tropical Race 4) is in Indonesia and that it spread from there, most likely first into Taiwan and then into China and the rest of Southeast Asia," said Gert Kema, of Wageningen University and Research Center and co-author of the study.

Kema said the disease is now affecting banana plants in Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Mozambique, and northeast Queensland in Australia.

"Ever since (Tropical Race 4) 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," said the study.

"Since the 1990s, TR4 has also wiped out Cavendish plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia; between 1997 and 1999, it significantly reduced the banana industry near Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia."

The PLOS Pathogens study said "exclusion is the primary measure to protect banana production, which requires accurate diagnosis based not only on visual inspection, as this overlooks important aspects of its genetic diversity and epidemiology."

George Mahuku, a senior plant pathologist for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, told CNN in October if the disease spread through Africa, it could have a devastating effect on that continent's economy.

"The East and Central Africa region has over 50 percent of its permanent crop area under banana cultivation," said Mahuka. "That's around half of the African total, with an annual production of 20.9 million tons valued at $ 4.3 billion.

"Bananas are an indispensable part of life in this region providing up to one-fifth of the total calorie consumption per capita. If TR4 were to spread into this region, the effects would be unimaginable."

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