Monoculture in Banana

 Monoculture in Bananas

The cultivation of a single crop in a given area is the definition of a monoculture. this a very common problem with Banana cultivation as in modern times the most commonly grown banana is the Cavendish banana, and it is currently threatneed by a new strain of the Panama Disease that it is not resistant to. This has happened before in history.

History

The switch from polyculture to monoculture in banana plantations had important consequences.  Perhaps the most obvious was a massive upswing in banana production.  As the desert banana dominated the overseas banana trade, plantations turned to intensively managed crops of one kind of plantain, the Gros Michel, for their harvests.  At the end of the nineteenth century, the Big Mike was the dominant varietal, indeed oftentimes the only varietal, grown on plantations throughout South and Central America.  The result was an unprecedented growth in banana exports during the early twentieth century. But such intensive production came with a massive cost: susceptibility to pathogens.

The intense monoculture had swathed the landscapes of Latin America in Gros Michel farms.  Moreover, because banana cultivation requires vegetative reproduction, given the fruits seedless, and therefore asexual, properties, the acres of Gros Michel banana crops were all genetically identical.  From 1899 onward, a plantain pathogen known as Fusarium oxysporum, colloquially known as “Panama Disease” or “fusarium wilt,” began spreading through banana plantations worldwide.  Panama disease, caused by a soil fungus, inevitably led to the death of its host, and the Gros Michel varietal proved particularly vulnerable to the fungus.  By the 1930s, Panama disease had diffused to nearly all of the banana farms of the American tropics, and by the 1950s had annihilated the Gros Michel commercially.  The fruit conglomerates had no choice but to abandon the varietal in favor of newer forms, and by 1958, the plantations turned to the Cavendish varietal, a smaller, less flavorful version of the Big Mike, but with a greater resistance to Panama Disease.

Modern 

Today, the Cavendish banana remains the dominant banana varietal exported.  However, it, too is in danger of commercial extinction.  A strain of fusarium wilt, known as “Tropical Race Four,” is moving from Southeast Asia across the tropical band, spread by both anthropogenic and natural means.  The Cavendish is vulnerable to this strain of Panama Disease, and its commercial extinction, like its predecessor, seems likely.  Yet, the danger of Panama Disease, and its ilk, is not solely the burden of the desert banana, and thus the relatively small (15% worldwide) portion of bananas grown worldwide.

Banana diseases at epidemic levels threaten not only the monoculture plantations, but also the smaller, diverse banana crops propagated by small-scale farmers throughout the world.  If a disease manages to evolve past a resistant breed’s natural defenses, it may be able to “jump” the barrier from non-resistant types to affect even resistant varieties of the fruit.  Thus, an epidemic disease may be commercially devastating, but it is potentially of even greater danger to the millions of bananas grown for subsistence around the world.  If epidemic disease jumps readily from banana-type to banana-type, humans around the tropical world face potential starvation on a massive scale. This is especially relevant in South America, as plantains and bananas make up a significant part of the daily diet.

Insects and Pests that Affect Bananas

Below is a list of pests and diseases that affect banana crops in Queensland.

Insect pests

• Banana aphid
• Banana flower thrips
• Banana fruit caterpillar
• Banana rust thrips
• Banana scab moth
• Banana weevil borer
• Banana-silvering thrips
• Banana-spotting and fruit-spotting bugs
• Cluster caterpillar
• Fruit piercing moths
• Queensland fruit fly
• Spider mite
• Two-spotted mite
• Spiralling whitefly
• Sugarcane bud moth

Diseases

• Bunchy top
• Panama disease (also see Fusarium wilt )
• Black sigatoka (leaf spot)
• Banana bract mosaic disease
• Banana leaf spot diseases
• Banana freckle
• Anthracnose
• Choke throat
• Rhizome soft rot

Nutritional Facts Bananas

Source: Nutrient data for this listing was provided by USDA SR-21. Each "~" indicates a missing or incomplete value. 

Percent Daily Values (%DV) are for adults or children aged 4 or older, and are based on a 2,000 calorie reference diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower based on your individual needs. 

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2#ixzz3waYNwhWB

Soil Degradation Bananas

In addition to sustaining 95 percent of food production and storing carbon, soils host more than a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity and play a key role in developing important pharmaceuticals. 

 

"Bananas leave a heavy toll on soils because of the multiple agrochemicals that are required to produce commecrial exports, whilst pineapples are one of the worst crops for soil erosion, because of the large areas of exposed soils." 

Morphology of the Banana Plants

 

 

 

Root System

 

Plants have numerous (200–500) fibrous roots. This is consistant with Bananas being Monocots.In well drained, deep, and fertile soils, roots may extend 1.5 m (5 ft) deep and 4.9 m (16 ft) wide. the root system of the banana tree provides structure and the ability for absorption of water. The root system of banana plants begins as a single rhizome that puts out suckers, which form new plants to replace the dying main plant after it fruits.

 

Since the Cavendish Banana is of the seedless variety, it means that that the new banana trees are created using the rhizomes that develop into new banana trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoot System

 

The entire above-ground portion of the plant is not a true woody trunk, as in other trees, but a “false trunk” or “false stem” that consists of leaves and their fused petiole bases, referred to as a pseudostem. The pseudostem supports a canopy consisting of 6–20 (or more) leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

Fruit

The most iconic fruit of the banana tree is a yellow slighty curved banana. They are generally elongate-cylindrical, straight to strongly curved, 3–40 cm (1.2–16 in) long, and 2–8 cm (0.8–3 in) in diameter. The fruit apex is important in variety identification; it may be tapered, rounded, or blunt. The skin is thin and tender to thick and leathery, and silver, yellow, green, or red in color.

Inside the ripe fruit, the flesh ranges from starchy to sweet, and in color from white, cream, yellow, or yellow-orange to orange. Bananas also vary in peel thickness. Some varieties have a thin peel and are more susceptible to damage in transport, whereas others have a comparably thicker peel (Big Mike variety). Fruits of cultivated Musa species are typically sterile or have extremely low fertility. They produce fruit pulp without pollination and fruits lacking seed.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Banana vs. Plantain

Banana and plantain are perennial crops that take the appearance of trees as they mature. 

There are two big distinctions that can be made in bananas, Plantains and Common Bananas. Plantains are starchy rather than sweet and are grown extensively as a staple food source in tropical regions.  Plantain varieties account for about 85 percent of all banana cultivation worldwide. Plantain varieties of bananas have to be cooked before they can be eaten.

Bananas on the other hand can be eaten raw once they are ripe. The most common kinds are Dwarf Cavendish, Valery, and Williams Hybrid bananas. Other types of bananas include Apple and a small red banana called the Red Jamaica. The Cavendish is the most common variety of bananas. The Cavendish is a shorter, stubbier plant than earlier varieties. It was developed to resist plant diseases, insects and wind storms better than its predecessors. The Cavendish fruit is of medium size, has a creamier, smooth texture, and a thinner peel than earlier varieties.
They have a sweet taste and the demand for them has increased over the years. Exports surpassed 17 million tonnes – 6.1% above the level in 2012 (FAO). This has mostly come from South American countries, as they are receiving multiple grants in areas such as banana growth.

The problem with the Cavendish banana is that it is derived from a mono culture. This means that if something goes wrong, the world's most popular banana could face extinction.

The Banana Plant - chemical