A deadly fungus that threatens the future of the banana has reached Latin America, the leading exporter of the fruit to world markets.
The Colombian agriculture and fishing institute (ICA) has confirmed the arrival of Panama TR4 disease, a soil-dwelling fungus that has devastated plantations in south-east Asia over the past 30 years. It threatens the Cavendish banana, the variety that accounts for half of global production and95 percent of the world’s exports.
The ICA has declared a “national emergency”, expanding preventive measures to the whole country. Latin America’s plantations are the source of two-thirds of the global banana trade.
“The first landing of TR4 in Latin America is a very serious issue. It is a disease that is very difficult to control and to manage,” said Professor Gert Kema, a leading banana expert and the head of tropical phytopathology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who was part of the team that analyzed the banana plants from Colombia.
The fungus does not affect humans but infected plants stop producing fruit. Spreading through soil movement, typically caused by workers and machinery, it has destroyed plantations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The disease was first suspected in Colombia in June in the province of La Guajira in the far north-east of the country.
The country has increased sanitary controls at all ports, airports and border points. The ICA said it had eradicated plants in an area encompassing nearly 170 hectares of quarantined plantations, adding: “The current challenge is to work on containment in La Guajira.”
