A fungus threatens banana cultivation.
Fusarium Tropical 4 (Tr4)), is a soil pathogen that is invading banana plantations in Southeast Asia and Pakistan and, more recently, in Jordan, Mozambique and Australia.
This is a growing risk for the industry as it colonizes, infects and destroys banana plants, one of the most exported fresh fruit in the world with an annual production volume of around 50 million tonnes for a revenue of 10 billion dollars per year.
Trade in this fruit is growing strongly in the major exporting countries of Ecuador and the Philippines with a significant increase in demand for imports, particularly from China and the European Union (EU).
Of the disease control, which is very difficult and expensive, but also of the sustainability of the banana industry, including environmental impacts, climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainable production systems, value distribution in the supply chain , living wages, workers' rights, decent work and gender equity will be discussed tomorrow and Wednesday at the Fourth Global Conference of the World Banana Forum organized by FAO in Rome.
This fruit, among the most marketed and consumed products in the world, is an essential source of income for thousands of rural families in developing countries and contributes to family food security.
However, intensive agrochemical production and falling producer prices have given rise to many environmental and social challenges.
The effects of global warming are leading to an increase in droughts, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, which are making banana production increasingly difficult, uncertain and expensive and threatening to disrupt global supplies and the livelihoods of small farmers.
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