Bananas On the Brink of Extinction
Oscar Kong ’25
Sydney Robinow ’25
While humans are reaching the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new pandemic, driven by climate change, is now emerging in bananas. Yes, the bananas you see in bulk at supermarkets are under threat of extinction. Nearly 90% of bananas exported globally are a cultivar called Cavendish, which reproduces asexually, meaning that a banana is just a clone of its mature plant. However, the Cavendish is vulnerable to a new strain of fungus called “Tropical Race 4”, which can potentially wipe out the whole cultivar (Narishkin, 2021).
In 1965, the Panama disease wiped out a whole cultivar of “Gros Michel” bananas, the “world’s export banana” (Prisco, 2016). These bananas were better in several aspects, as they lasted longer and tasted better. After the Panama disease emerged and spread to most commercial plantations, the industry was forced to consider alternatives and settled on the Cavendish. Now, despite the Cavendish’s immunity to the Panama disease, there is a huge possibility that the Tropical Race 4 (TR4) will wipe out the Cavendish. TR4, which emerged in Southeast Asia in the 1990s, quickly spread to most banana-producing countries in Asia. Soon after, TR4 appeared in other areas around the globe and was reported in 2013 and 2019 to be in Mozambique and Columbia, respectively (FAO, 2020). Unfortunately, TR4 can be spread easily through infested planting material, soil, and water, to which climate change has contributed. Increased amounts of precipitation and extreme weather due to climate change causes flooding and water infestation. With the rainwater carrying the contaminated soil to new places, TR4 spreads quicker than usual.
Like the fungus “Gros Michel,” TR4 is so contagious that it may potentially wipe out the Cavendish. Once again, the banana industry would have to cultivate a new variety of bananas worse than the Cavendish. If scientists had chosen to develop more types of bananas, there could have been more cultivars immune to TR4, resulting in a less severe impact (Prisco, 2016). However, despite previous requests from plantations to develop a more diverse population of bananas, no action has been taken.
To make matters worse, a new fungus called the Black Sigatoka has emerged. Black Sigatoka infects the banana leaf with fungal toxins, which cause its cells to die when exposed to light. Unlike TR4, fungicides can treat this fungus, but the temperature and humidity fluctuations caused by climate change still play a role in determining the lifecycle of the Black Sigatoka (Times Now Digital, 2019).
Due to climate change exacerbating its spread, there aren’t many effective ways to eradicate Tropical Race 4 or Black Sigatoka. Despite that, through strict and thorough measures, there is a slight chance for it to be limited. If not, scientists will have to cultivate a new group of bananas immune to both fungi before all bananas are extinct.
References
Narishkin, A. (2021, July 29). Why the world's favorite banana may go extinct, and how
scientists are trying to save it. https://www.businessinsider.com/cavendish-banana-may-go-extinct-disease-2021-6
Prisco, J. (2016, January 8). Why bananas as we know them might go extinct (again).
https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/22/africa/banana-panama-disease
FAO. (2020). What you need to know about Tropical Race 4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. https://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/CA8413EN/
Times Now Digital. (2019, May 8). Bananas could go extinct due to fungal disease from climate change, reveals study.
