The World May Possibly See Bananas Go Extinct

Aug 16, 2019 by apost team

In the 1920s, there was a shortage of bananas that made the famous song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" very popular, and people still remember it today. The song could experience a resurgence soon because another shortage of the fruit has reared its head.

In the first and second quarter of the 1900s exporters discovered a deadly fungus in the soil that began wiping out bananas in South American lands. There were banana shortages due to the fungus causing a famous song to be written called, "Yes, We Have No Bananas."

However banana exporters were able to find a different type of banana, the cavendish, that was immune to the fungus. The exporters switched over to the cavendish banana which we know so well today in the U.S as its predecessor began to go extinct according to CNBC. The fungus has been identified as Panama Disease, and it was found that any banana plant that contracted the fungus would not be able to survive except for the cavendish...until. 

apost.com

Recently, a strain of the fungus called Tropical Race 4 (TR4) has been found to kill Cavendish bananas. It has also been found to have already contaminated different parts of South East Asia but it soon spread to different continents. 

The UK could be especially affected because it could lose its annual import of over 5 billion bananas according to The Daily Mail. The primary variety of bananas that are produced and sold worldwide are almost exclusively the Cavendish variety. This lack of diversity in genetic variety creates a greater danger of extinction for the fruit.

Scientists are working hard to prevent bananas from becoming extinct. They are looking at alternate species of wild bananas and some genetic modifications that could provide resistance to the fungus and save banana production.

However, banana experts all confirmed to CNBC that it isn't a matter of 'if' the fungus spreads to Latin America (where the biggest exporters of bananas are) its a matter of 'when.'

Do you think this could be the end of bananas? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to send links about this story to your friends and family.