Fungus Panama TR$ threaten Bananas

The Colombian Agriculture and Fishing Institute (ICA) has confirmed the arrival of Panama TR4 disease, a soil-dwelling fungus that has devastated plantations in South-East Asia over the past 30 years. Now it threatens Cavendish banana which accounts for half of global production and 95 per cent of the world’s exports. The ICA has declared a “national emergency”, and extending preventive measures for the entire country.

“the first landing of TR4 in Latin America is a very serious  issue, a disease very difficult to control and manage according to Prof Gert Kema, a phytopathology expert and head of tropical phytopathology at Wageningen University in Netherlands who analysed banana plants from Colombia.  The disease first suspected in Colombia in June in the Province of La Guajira in the far north-east of the country. The Cavendish is based on a single genetic clone, meaning that it is vulnerable to epidemics. Before Cavendish became dominant the Gros Michel was the most widely eaten banana, which was wiped out completely in the 1950s by the first strain of Panama disease.

However, the fungus does not affect humans but infected plants  stop producing fruit.