Today's plantations are all the "Cavendish" variety. Other articles say that the previous Gros Michel (‘Big Mike’) variety was larger and tastier. I don't think I've ever had a Gros Michel banana.
Posted on 08/31/2024 10:01:42 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
A killer disease turns up out of the blue. It moves by “stealth transmission”, spreading before symptoms even show. Once it takes hold, it is already too late to stop it – there is no cure.
..."Tropical Race 4" (TR4) is a disease that affects bananas. Also known as Panama Disease, it is a fungus that has been rampaging through banana farms the past 30 years...within the last decade the epidemic has accelerated, spreading from Asia to Australia, the Middle East, Africa and more recently Latin America, where the majority of the bananas shipped to supermarkets in the global north come from. ...it is now in 20 countries, prompting fears of a “banana pandemic” and shortages of the world’s favourite fruit.
This is not the first time bananas have faced wipe-out...In the 1950s the industry was decimated by ... “one of the worst botanical epidemics in history” when Panama Disease first hit. The fungal disease originated in Asia, where it co-evolved with bananas, before spreading to the vast plantations of Central America.
... it was devastating...because the bananas were all one variety, the Gros Michel or ‘Big Mike’. The cultivar was chosen by the burgeoning banana industry because it produces large, tasty fruit that can be cut from the tree unripe, making it possible to transport a highly perishable, exotic food long distances while it continues to ripen. Each plant was a clone of roughly the same size and shape, produced from suckers – shoots that develop from the rootstalk – making it easy to mass produce. ...each banana plant is genetically almost identical, producing a reliably consistent fruit crop. From a business point of view, it was a license to print money, but from an epidemiological point of view it was an outbreak waiting to happen.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Today's plantations are all the "Cavendish" variety. Other articles say that the previous Gros Michel (‘Big Mike’) variety was larger and tastier. I don't think I've ever had a Gros Michel banana.
Just like the Spuds they gang produce for French fries, we are offered ONE kind.
Ya gotta search out all the others.
But they’re out there.
And tasty as can be too!
Spud offerings have gotten better. More Apple varieties too
I believe the cavendish bananas were supposed to be wiped out 20 years ago. And yes, we have no bananas.
Yes, the Cavendish has been affected by the “Panama Disease” for several decades, but it was contained. The extent of the disease has grown exponentially the past decade and is now in more than 20 countries. Entire plantations get wiped out. The only “cure” is to uproot and destroy the diseased plantations. We do the same thing today with chicken and cattle diseases.
We do indeed. Which is why my hopes went up when the people at the Democrat convention started coming down with CoVid. They should have taken out the whole herd and started over.
Supermarket has lots even on sale ,LOL
I don’t think I’ve ever had a Gros Michel banana.
LOLOL!! You made my day with that one!
The fungus that kills frogs was spread worldwide by biologists studying the problem, the “scientists” were the main vector of the fungus which was traveling on their boots and clothes. It is possible the banana fungus is also being spread on the boots and clothing of the scientists studying it.
The Senior Pranks at CalTech were a lot better than that!
The botanists in California also think the Sudden Oak Death fungus is largely spread on boots as well.
Whenever you are hiking in an ancient oak grove, you will see signs to stay on the trail and keep your boots clean.
Almost an hour and no Obama-related jokes about the Big Mike banana?
Nope. Not going there.
Here’s a guy giving a very analytical taste comparison of the Cavendish versus the Gros Michel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLNNgyiJdY
He also reviews a variety that may be a replacement for the Cavendish in the future:
TR3B ?
Same thing happened that caused the Irish potato famine.
Well, I DID make “Big Mike” bold. But that was just a hint.
Sounds like the Irish potato famine — overdependence on one cultivar.
None of us really want to think about Big Mike’s banana ...
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