No bananas? MEDA project supports research into new varieties
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ecent media reports say bananas — a breakfast and dessert staple for many — may soon be more expensive. A banana-killing fungus is threatening production in several countries. Most of the bananas that North Americans eat come from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Columbia or Ecuador. There are more than 1,000 types of bananas grown in 135 countries around the world. Major banana exporters in the Americas focus on one variety — the Cavendish. Cavendish makes up half of world banana production, but close to 99 per cent of banana exports. If the fungus continues to spread, the industry will need new varieties that are resistant to the deadly Panama disease. Major banana producers in Central and South America will find a new product to sell. In the 1950s, when disease ravaged the dominant Gros Michel banana, they switched to the Cavendish.
photos by David Eagle/MEDA
David Eagle holds up a large cluster of bananas
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Canadians eat about 15 kilograms of bananas a year, about twice as many as people in the US. In some parts of Africa, cooking bananas are a dietary staple. People in Uganda eat between 250 and 400kg of bananas per person annually. Sone regions of Africa grow a dozen or more banana varieties. Having crops ravaged by a pest like the Panama fungus is a serious issue for African growers. Most African banana farmers are small-scale producers. In the Western Hemisphere, Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole operate major plantations. Small-scale farmers do not have the resources to deal with the Panama fungus. MEDA’s RAPID banana project is tackling that problem, through work in Tanzania and Uganda. RAPID is a four-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims to commercialize seed multiplication technologies. It
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