Don’t worry it will never happen!
Don’t worry it will never happen!
You’ve heard the scientists and government spout that kind of rhetoric for years. Yet on just about every occasion those words are eaten by those that state them.
When banana orchards became infected and both orchards and importers went broke many thousands of dollars were spent to replant those orchards with the modified Cavendish variety.
When the Gros Michel variety became infected in the 60’s the scientists set about genetically altering the banana. Just as scientists have done to the wheat grain and many other seeds, to a strain supposedly resistant to the strain of blight that had affected the Gros Michel.
That genetically altered variety became the Cavendish which is thought to be resistant to the Panama version of the blight. But as has been seen all over the world in many other viruses and germs, they tend to genetically alter themselves.
Over the last few years variants in the blight have been seen and have gained a serious hold in many countries. Some plantations in Malaysia have been completely wiped out and in the last few years has also infected Africa.
Human nature said, what happened to the Gros Michel cannot happen to the genetically altered Cavendish. But guess what?
Yep! It started to infect the Cavendish too!
What did the scientist say? Don’t worry, were working on it!
Scientists have been working hard, and they have produced several variation of the banana, from the many varieties available. The problem is the new variations just don’t have the same flavor, so far. It seems the bananas are naturally heavy on seeds but low in palatability.
Although it seems we might not be feeling the pinch from a lack of product available in the super markets, it should be noted that the Malaysian plantations went from full scale operations to nothing in five years.
So we are left to speculate as to what the final curtain call will be for the banana.
The banana fruit is still a threatened fruit, and we are going to have wait, yes wait to see if we can beat that threat. But we need to realize that many people in the tropical countries are the least able to adapt to the loss of nutrition and income, are already suffering.
Posted in Start a Bakery
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