Banana Disease
They're a popular snack, but soon they might be a rare one. An untreatable banana disease has been discovered on a farm in Northern Queensland which if it spreads could wipe out most of Australia's huge banana industry. Eloise got the inside word on what's being done to stop it.
Just imagine a banana split, without the banana!
A banana milkshake, without the banana
Banana bread, without the banana
It sounds sad but it could become true, because this incredibly popular fruit is facing a big threat.
The drama all began a few weeks ago when a farmer near a little town named Tully in North Queensland noticed his banana plants didn't look quite right. So he sent some samples in for testing to find out what the problem was.
The results were not what anyone expected - Panama Disease Tropical Race 4. It's a particularly big, particularly bad banana disease, that's been described as the worst banana disease in the world!
This strain of Panama disease doesn't make all bananas dangerous to eat, but it does stop banana plants from producing fruit properly. It's actually a fungus that sits in the soil. It gets into the roots of banana plants and travels up to where the fruit grows. Here it blocks the water supply, and without water, good quality fruit can't grow.
To make things worse, it can't be treated either. Once this disease is in the soil it stays there for many years, and bananas can never be grown in that spot again.
A big part of the problem is that the disease has been found in this type of banana, the Cavendish. It's the most popular banana to eat, and the one we see most in the supermarket. So while these bananas are still fine to eat, they might become increasingly hard to find if the fungus spreads further.
Australia's banana industry is worth around 600 million dollars. And 95 per cent of those bananas are grown in yep, Northern Queensland, where this rascal Panama disease has sprung up. So banana splits won't be the only thing at risk. The whole industry is at threat.
Twenty years ago, Panama Disease wiped out Northern Territory's banana industry, leaving just one commercial farm. It also caused massive damage in the 1990's in Asia, wiping out every Cavendish plantation in Malaysia in just four years. Experts say the disease is so strong all it takes is a speck of dirt from an infected plantation stuck to the bottom of your shoe to spread it.
Luckily Panama Disease is just on one farm right now. But no one has ever been able to contain it before, so Queensland's banana farmers are hoping they'll be the first. They're fencing off crops, stopping trucks going onto properties, and washing their cars and shoes all the time. Scientists are also busy working on creating a new kind of banana that can't be infected.
So there are lots of people joining the fight to save this healthy, tasty fruit, and stop one of our favourite desserts from disappearing for good.
- Eloise Fuss | Reporter
- Extra resources to help stop Panama disease in bananas in the banana industry: ABC News | weblink
- Panama disease Tropical Race 4 confirmed at far north Queensland banana farm: ABC News | weblink
- What is Panama Disease?: Panama Disease | weblink
- Australia:QLD | Map
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