Aerial photos of a banana plantation in which large sections have been destroyed by Panama disease. Photo:
Maricar Salacinas
These are the conclusions of a group of scientists led by Gert Kema, a researcher at Biointeractions & Plant Health, in the scientific journal PLoS Pathogens.
Kema’s team examined the genetic material of Fusarium fungi from Jordan, Pakistan and the Philippines, among other places. Only a very small proportion of the genetic ‘letters’ differed between the samples. This is despite the huge diversity in Indonesia, where Fusarium originated.
‘Everything that has been done so far in terms of educating people and applying quarantine has failed,’ says Kema. He notices that different places vary in how seriously they take the precautionary measures. While some plantations ensure all vehicles and people are disinfected, others do nothing at all. ‘A guaranteed way of making sure the disease spreads further.’ Ultimately, a resistant banana plant will be needed as well as the use of multiple varieties in cultivation.
Infection with Panama disease is disastrous for commercial banana plantations. Because the same non-resistant variety (Cavendish) is used everywhere, the plants die in vast numbers. Furthermore, the land remains unfit for the cultivation of bananas for a long time afterwards because the Fusarium fungus survives ‘asleep’ in the soil.
Fusarium oxysporum has now spread across the Middle East, Southeast Asia, East Africa and Australia. So far, the plantations of South America have escaped. But infection seems merely a question of time, and major banana producing countries are preparing for the disease.