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Is the banana going extinct? |
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A new book explores the reasons why the days of the Cavendish banana as an export commodity may be counted.
January 2008
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In Banana: The fate of the fruit that changed the world, American outdoors and science writer Dan Koeppel warns against the perils of growing monocultures of genetically identical bananas. He illustrates his argument with the story of the Cavendish banana which, in parts of Asia, is falling prey to a variant of Fusarium wilt. This fungal disease has already wiped out its similarly genetically uniform predecessor, the Gros Michel banana much loved for its taste and bruise-resistant skin ideally suited for long-distance travel. But even if Gros Michel has disappeared from supermarkets, it has not gone extinct. It is still cultivated in small plots, mixed in with other varieties, where diversity allows it to thrive.
Unlike other popular books on the subject, the author introduces readers to the diversity of bananas, and how it came about, before concentrating on the problems faced by the Cavendish and the scientists working on solutions.
Link to the book's website
Excerpt from the book
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