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Mexico – Banana trees are threatened with extinction, experts say, as a deadly tropical disease affects crops around the world.
Known as Panama disease, or Fusarium oxysporum. .sp. cubense, the fungal infection is already prevalent in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Central America.
If the infection reaches South America, researchers warn that Cavendish banana is the best-selling and most-consumed species. the world could be threatened with extinction.
Chemical treatment has proven ineffective in curbing the spread of the disease, and experts can only stop the fungus by quarantining large tracts of farmland.
Cavendish are genetically identical to each other, allowing Panama disease to decimate whole crops quickly.
About five billion Cavendish bananas are consumed annually only in the United Kingdom.
] The salvation of banana crops could take the form of a rare tree from Madagascar, which grows an uncomfortable and wild banana species that is immune to Panama disease.
Plant biologists are quick to create a hybrid of the two banana species in hopes of creating an infection-resistant strain.
Quarantine has shown some effectiveness as a way to limit the spread of the fungus, but this is not a perfect method.
While a land can be sacrificed to protect an even larger area that is riddled with destructive fungi, the spores remain asleep on the ground for decades, ready to burst when the right conditions will appear later.
There are only five of the hardest plantains in Madagascar.
Richard Allen, Senior Conservation Advisor, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew He told the BBC that species resistant to rare diseases found in Madagascar (Ensete perrieri) have certain characteristics that make it more durable than Cavendish banana. [19] 659003] It is believed that the climate on the island played a role in creating a banana that has evolved to have an innate tolerance to drought and disease.
"There is no Panama disease, so maybe" We do not know until we actually investigate the banana itself, but we can not investigate until 39, that he was saved. "
Panama disease is resistant to the disease Fungicide treatments and infected fields often fail when only one plant is infected.
During an expedition to the island off the coast of Africa, scientists at Royal Botanic Gardens have found that only a handful of bananas exist
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