Yes! We have no bananas: Why the song may come true again

[iscooterliberally]

Source: BBC News

A wild banana that may hold the key to protecting the world's edible banana crop has been put on the extinction list.

It is found only in Madagascar, where there are just five mature trees left in the wild.

Scientists say the plant needs to be conserved, as it may hold the secret to keeping bananas safe for the future.

Most bananas consumed around the world are of a type known as the Cavendish, which is vulnerable to a plant pest.

The race is on to develop new banana varieties that are both tasty to eat and resilient enough to survive attack from Panama disease.

The Madagascan banana has evolved in isolation on an island cut off from the mainland, and may have special properties.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44712034

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I used to have a banana tree in my yard. It was a dwarf Cavendish tree. It only cost me about $10 to plant and I got lots of bananas off of that tree.

[Javaman]

1. There is a great book called Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

https://www.amazon.com/Banana-Fate-Fruit-Changed-World/dp/0452290082/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530807632&sr=1-2&keywords=banana

it's just a matter of time before the cavendish bites the dust.

growers have been searching for a couple of decades for a replacement.

[CrispyQ]

2. Hmmm,

The race is on to develop new banana varieties that are both tasty to eat and resilient enough to survive attack from Panama disease.

Wish they had applied that to tomatoes. They sure are gorgeous in the store, all red & round & almost exactly the same size, but when you cut them open – bleh!

We are not ready for the changes that climate change is going to bring.

[Brother Buzz]

3. What's old is new again

For the last couple of years, heirloom varieties of tomatoes have started appearing in the markets. They are at a premium and taste almost as good as they ones I grow in my yard. If you are not cooking the tomato, they are infinity superior to the 'year round' pink 'tennis balls' we've been enduring for the last forty, fifty years.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Jinx!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

4. "Wish they had applied that to tomatoes."

Plenty of heirlooms to fit that bill. I have actually been seeing some offered in produce sections of supermarkets (at a premium though). Better place to get them a bit cheaper is a farmer's market if you are near any. You could also grow your own but then that's tricky in winter if you live in a colder area and need to grow indoors.

[elleng]

6. Reminds me of Dad. THANKS!

[Aristus]

7. The Cavendish banana is basically the mass-market beer of the banana world.

Easy to mass-produce, bland, inoffensive, and lacking in any positive distinctive qualities.

There are many other varieties, such as the Gros Michele, that are more flavorful, but also more suscpetible to plant pests.

I hope they develop a better banana soon...

[SWBTATTReg]

8. I thought another reason that they liked the cavendish banana was that it could handle shipping ...

better than other varieties of banana. It's amazing what will doom a species, eh?

[iscooterliberally]

9. I've read that this is true.

There are many species of banana that are edible, but you can't ship them anywhere or they will spoil. I have a friend that has many different species of banana trees on his property and most of them have to be eaten as soon as you pull them off the tree.

[dembotoz]

10. to loose diversity is to cut your own throat

and yet that is what we do.....

[catrose]

11. I've been singing that song a lot lately

Well, the Randy Rainbow version.

I do hope they can develop a banana variety that can survive pests and disease.