TEGUCIGALPA: Banana varieties obtained by Honduran scientists could be the answer to the biological threat looming over this fruit’s Cavendish family, the most exported banana worldwide.

The Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research (FHIA) has developed alternatives to the potential demise of the Cavendish. The test varieties FHIA 17 and FHIA 23 possess traits and a taste similar to the widely consumed fruit and could replace it, Roberto Tejeda, the institution’s communications manager said.

Since it was founded in 1984, the FHIA has achieved six banana hybrids that are resistant to black sigatoka and to some forms of Panama disease, two types of fungus infestations that are devastating banana plantations in several regions around the world. These hybrids also demonstrate some resistance to other pests, such as parasite worms that attacks the roots of the banana tree. The FHIA 17 and FHIA 23 trial hybrids are the product of conventional genetic crosses, using natural pollination methods, in a process that has allowed scientists and farmers to confront the fungus threat without affecting the environment, says Tejeda.

The intensive use of pesticides to fight these fungi is environmentally harmful and means high production costs for small and medium size farms.

The FHIA is one of just five institutions worldwide that are dedicated to improving the security of the banana, the fourth leading food crop in the world, after rice, maize and wheat. In contrast, there are around a thousand institutions around the globe that are specialised in rice research. The FHIA is part of the International Network for the Improvement of the Banana and Plantain (INIBAP), based in France, with the mandate to promote scientific investigation of this fruit.

INIBAP has called attention to the plant health problems confronting banana growers in Asia, Australia and Africa. In those regions, the fusarium fungus, which triggers what is known as race 4 of Panama disease, has attacked the banana varieties of the Cavendish group. To date, there does not exist a pesticide to fight this soil-inhabiting organism, nor are there any Cavendish varieties that are resistant to fusarium wilt.

Earlier this year, INIBAP issued a warning that the extinction of the Cavendish is on the horizon and expressed concern that fusarium would soon spread to the commercial banana plantations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The FHIA has two varieties that are resistant to black sigatoka but not the race 4 of Panama disease, and are being grown at experiment stations in countries like Cuba, Colombia and Ecuador.—Dawn/InterPress News Service