Posted on 12/24/2013 2:34:01 AM PST by Daffynition
A highly-contagious form of fungus sometimes called Panama disease has devastated crops in Asia, and has now been found in Mozambique. It sounds like a joke, but this pandemic is deadly serious and could affect the world's fruit supply.
Earlier this month, the scientific journal Nature published an article about Mozambique's efforts to contain the blight pandemic by quarantining fields where it has been found, hoping that it won't spread. The country needs more funds to prevent the spread of Panama disease. Unchecked, this banana pandemic could potentially cut off the global supply of one of the world's most popular fruits, a healthy source of minerals that's used in many cuisines.
I am surrounded by bananas.
I have a large stalk of green bananas just outside my door.
I have not heard of any disease here.
This is serious stuff. You are not effected yet, but you may be.
This is serious — How can we live in a banana republic, if we don’t have any bananas?
i guess people didn’t remember when Gros Michel banana, aka big mike cultivar of banana was almost wiped out.
I remember the angst I felt contemplating what that would do to food all over the planet.
Never heard anything else since then
Not saying this is a hoax or anything, just sayin' we've heard this before.
Next you will claim Global Warming is a hoax.
Yes, not only series but also hugh. Oh the huge manatee!
Not only bananas. The orange crops in Florida are threatened by the spread of Citrus Greening disease.
I'm declaring your reply Post of the Day even at this early hour!
“You are not effected yet, but you may be.”
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I will ask if anyone knows of this disease.
Bananas are an every day staple here.
There are various diseases/parasites/predators that affect bees, all of which come under the umbrella term "colony collapse disorder." It affects bees all over the world. I first read about it in the 1990s and have been following it since. It is a topic of heavy research, since much of our food supply depends on bees for pollenization.
That is good, but it is serious. Although I’ve been hearing about this for a while, years in fact.
Plant diseases are BAD.
Wonderful, another threat to our food supply!
Chocolate and bees are also threatened. Bats in the US northeast are dying by the millions from some fungal disease, and various diseases are killing amphibians worldwide. Yes, I know we don’t eat bats and most people don’t eat amphibians, but they still affect our food supply by eating pests.
Global trade and travel are wonderful, and expand the horizons of everyone. But they have a dark downside, and that is that diseases which may be endemic in some small part of the world can be easily picked up and spread to naive populations in other parts of the world. In this context, “naive” means that they have not previously been exposed to the disease and have no immunity to it, so that the disease can be far more severe in that population than it is where it originated.
And its incurable? Yeah, we’re screwed.
I will ask the plant pathologist people here if there is a concern. I have one special lady that sells only small sweet bananas that my 3 yr old likes. It is the only thing that she sells.
So, What’s the status of that particular situation now ??
It's the 21st century. Everything is virtualized. We have a virtual President, virtual healthcare that is not healthcare. We might as well have a no-banana banana republic. ;-)
This is all part of a scheme to drive up the price of bananas with more money going to government inspectors to watch and certify your banana from cradle to grave and drive those small banana producers out of business.
So does this affect *all* types of banana, or just the incredibly inbred “Cavendish” that is currently the only yellow banana on US shelves?
Here in India, I see at least ten different varieties of banana, none of which are Cavendish (and one of which I *really* like, and will miss if I get back to the states). If this disease affects all bananas, it’ll be bad, but if it only ruins Cavendish, then we’ll still be ok (and it might make for a small boom in South and Southeast Asia exporting some different banana varieties).
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