

Researchers fear that a fungus could cripple the world's banana monoculture - kanamekun
http://www.popsci.com/article/science/has-end-banana-arrived

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ChuckFrank
I believe that we will see a marked decline in the Cavendish varietals because
of Race 4. But the upside is that there are so many other delicious banana
varieties that are currently excluded from the market place because of the
commercially 'perfect' quality of the Cavendish. To me that's like living in a
world of only Red Delicious apples.

That being said, managing the fungal infections effectively continues to be an
industry priority, as it should be.

Snopes -
[http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/bananas.asp](http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/bananas.asp)

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danieltillett
What I find amazing about bananas is nobody really know where they are from or
how long they have been cultivated - the best guess is they are from Papua New
Guinea and maybe from as far back as 10,000 years ago [0].

[0]
[http://cwh.ucsc.edu/bananas/Site/Early%20History%20of%20the%...](http://cwh.ucsc.edu/bananas/Site/Early%20History%20of%20the%20Banana.html)

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DerKommissar
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes!_We_Have_No_Bananas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes!_We_Have_No_Bananas)

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gammarator
Ironically the Cavendish banana was introduced because a previous cultivar was
wiped out by this fungus back in the 1950s:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel_banana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel_banana)
Supposedly it tasted much better...

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danieltillett
I don't think it is wiped out as it is still a major export variety for
Malaysia and Thailand.

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xenadu02
That's correct, it is just rare due to the ubiquity of the fungus, which has
spread far and wide and maintains a continuous low level in the former growing
environments.

Many of the other cultivars spoil quickly, making them difficult to ship over
the ocean, pipe through the distribution system, sit on grocery shelves, then
keep fresh for a few days in your home.

If no commercially viable cultivar survives then bananas will become a luxury
fruit, flown in on a daily or weekly basis with all the cost increases that
implies.

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thatmiddleway
Wow, this sounds like a bigger issue than bunchy top.

