Every morning after my shower, I read the news on the Internet with a banana and a cup of coffee.
This morning, as usual, I was looking at the Nihon Keizai Shimbun with a banana in my mouth, when the headline "Bananas in 'Extinction' Crisis" jumped out at me.
I read what was going on and found that there is an outbreak of Fusarium bacteria (TR4), which attacks the Cavendish bananas we normally eat, and has already been confirmed in 20 countries.
The Gross Mitchell banana, which was rationed in Europe after World War II and enjoyed by many, was nearly wiped out by the first Fusarium fungus. It is called "Panama disease" because Panama was the country most severely affected at this time.
Bananas do not have seeds. The shoots that grow from the base of the banana are plucked and used as seedlings to grow into the next generation of bananas. In other words, the next generation of bananas are clones because they have the same genes as the original banana.This makes them very susceptible to pathogens. In addition, shoots taken from already infected bananas are also affected by the disease, so the disease spreads and wipes out all the bananas in the plantation.
The "Panama Disease" was endemic not only in Panama, but also in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
Later, the Panama Disease-resistant Cavendish banana appeared and was eaten around the world. The "New Panama Disease" caused by TR4 Fusarium, the bacterium that kills the Cavendish banana, broke out in Indonesia and has spread to 20 countries, including China, Australia, Mozambique, Colombia, and Peru, as well as the Philippines.
Professor Arie of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology is working to protect bananas from these diseases.
The idea is to use harmless "Fusarium bacteria" to keep the bad Fusarium bacteria at bay.
In addition, the Queensland University of Technology in Australia is working to develop a genetically modified banana that is resistant to TR4 Fusarium bacteria.
A household of two or more people consumes 19 kilograms of bananas per year, almost double the amount of apples and oranges. Inexpensive and nutritious, bananas are an important food for us.
I hope you will continue to be healthy and not be defeated by illness. Bananas, my friend.
