Explained: Why Climate Change Could Kill The Humble Banana
Global warming in the last about 60 years has helped increase banana yield at an annual rate of 0024 tonnes per hectare. But a continued increase in temperature could slow down yields or even reverse in some countries leading to a drop in yields by 2050. India which is the worlds largest producer and consumer of bananas along with nine other countries such as Brazil will see a reduction in the yield.
The humble banana - a botanical berry - is not only known for its vast benefits but also qualifies as the only fruit that everyone can afford.
The banana has been India¡¯s most versatile and revered fruit from time immemorial.
In India, the banana is considered a remedy for all ills, physical and spiritual.
But, research says that bananas are not immune to climate change and the rising heat across the globe could be a death knell for the fruit that alone feeds millions every day.
Global warming in the last about 60 years has helped increase banana yield at an annual rate of 0.024 tonnes per hectare, translating to an average increase of 1.37 tonnes per hectare in 27 countries since the 1960s.
According to a study published in Nature Climate Change, a continued increase in temperature could slow down yields or even reverse in some countries leading to a drop in yields ¡ª 0.59-0.19 tonnes per hectare ¡ª by 2050.
Effects on Indian farming
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) with 29 million tonnes produced per year between 2010 and 2017, India is the world¡¯s number one producer of bananas. Over 29 per cent of the world¡¯s banana production is in India.
The average yield of bananas in India is around 60 tonnes per hectare, according to the FAO.
But as the study estimates, the banana yield in India could start declining by 2050, if investments are not made in preparing tropical agriculture for future climate change.
Banana varieties in India
India, which is the world¡¯s largest producer and consumer of bananas, along with nine other countries such as Brazil will see a reduction in the yield, the University of Exeter study finds.
¡°India could experience a major reversal with predicted negative effects of future climate change compared to positive effects in the past,¡± the authors write. But the decline in production due to climate change in the case of India may be mitigated by strong, technology-driven measures to increase the yield.
¡°There will be winners and losers in coming years, and our study may stimulate vulnerable countries to prepare through investment in technologies like irrigation,¡± says Dan Webber, a lecturer in microbial ecology at the Department of Biosciences at the University of Exeter.
Bananas are cultivated in 120 countries across the tropics and subtropics from South America to Africa to Southeast Asia. Collectively, these countries produce 114 million tons of fruits each year.
There are more than 1,000 varieties of bananas, although the highly popular Cavendish cultivar accounts for nearly half of all banana production.
Bananas are a key crop for millions of people worldwide. An estimated 400 million people eat bananas as a staple starch, so there are food security implications too.
Fungus strains killing bananas
Not just climate change but several strains of a fungus are posing grave threats to the world¡¯s banana plants, according to a recent study by researchers in the US and the Netherlands. In fact, the fungi, if left unchecked, could wipe out the planet¡¯s entire crop of essential fruit within years.
Panama disease, also called banana wilt, is a devastating disease of bananas caused by the soil-inhabiting fungus species Fusarium oxysporum forma specialis cubense.
Cavendish bananas | ShutterStock
A form of fusarium wilt, Panama disease is widespread throughout the tropics and can be found wherever susceptible banana cultivars are grown.
The fungus Fusarium Oxysporum rendered the Gros Michel banana variety commercially extinct in the 1950s by causing a fatal disease called Fusarium wilt or "Panama disease."
But then in the 1990s a new strain of the fungus, which originated in Taiwan, began to spread worldwide. Cavendish bananas, the most popular variety, have been under threat ever since.
To make matters worse, bananas are grown from shoot cuttings and all the Cavendish bananas have been grown from a single plant, which means they are genetically identical clones of one another.
With their limited genetic diversity, they are more prone to devastating diseases. A disease that can kill one plant can kill them all with equal ease.
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