What Happened? T e fungus attacked the leaves of the Cavendish banana. T ey shriveled up. Without leaves, the plant could not make food for itself. It began to rot and die. Growers were helpless as the fungus spread. T e fungus has wiped out


plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Taiwan. It’s now spreading through much of Southeast Asia. And there doesn’t seem to be a way to stop it.


What to Do? People around the world are trying to solve the problem. Banana growers want to create a replacement banana. T at means crossing two existing bananas that are not Cavendish to create a new banana. T is new banana would resist the disease. But it takes years for plants to grow. Scientists also are trying to create


a Cavendish that resists disease. T ey must mix molecules from other banana species with the Cavendish.


Where Bananas are Grown 2013 world exports: 17 million tonnes (18.7 million tons)


BANANA RANGE


Ecuador produces more bananas than any other country—5 million tonnes (5.5 million tons) per year.


NORTH AMERICA


EUROPE ASIA


AFRICA


SOUTH AMERIC


SOUTH AMERICA AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA


Latin America and Caribbean 13.4 tonnes (14.7 tons)


SOURCE: www.FAO.org 14 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


Asia 2.9 tonnes (3.2 tons)


Africa 0.7 tonnes (0.8 tons)


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24