Pity the Banana: A Sexless Fruit at Risk
2008 October 18
“Pity the banana. Despite its unmistakably phallic appearance, it hasn’t had sex for thousands of years. The world’s most erotic fruit is a sterile, seedless mutant- and therein lies a problem. The banana is genetically old and decrepit.” Thus starts the article by Fred Pearce in the latest issue of Conservation Magazine. How could I ignore it?
Yes, that’s right. The banana is in danger of extinction. The banana is one of the oldest crops, coming into existence as an edible fruit approximately 10,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. The seedless variety was a genetic mutation, and all bananas since have been essentially clones of those first mutant fruits.
That being said, the standardization of the banana is threatening its ability to adapt and survive. It lacks the genes to fight off the pests and diseases that now threaten the banana plantations in Asia, Africa and Central America. The banana is devoid of genetic diversity. Prior to the 1950s, it was the Gros Michel banana that dominated people’s tummies. It was then wiped out by a soil fungus which farmers unsuccessfully tried to run from. The Gros Michel was replaced by today’s standard banana, the Cavendish.
Chiquita supported a banana breeding program for 40 years, but the program was not able to develop an alternative to the Cavendish. You see, it is expensive and time-consuming to develop new plant varieties without sex. And the banana, well, the banana is celibate.
The Cavendish is now facing a global epidemic of Black Sigatoka, a fungal disease. In order to try to combat the fungus, the bananas receive 40 sprayings a year of fungicide, making the Cavendish the most heavily sprayed food crop in the world. The effects are being seen in the workers at the banana-packing plants in Costa Rica, which is the world’s second largest exporter of bananas. The female workers are twice as likely to develop leukemia and have children born with birth defects, and one-fifth of the male workers are sterile. Anyone now feel like switching to organic?
The banana is not the only fruit at risk though. Mangos and pineapples also lack genetic diversity. Wild varieties of soybeans, tomatoes, coffee, hard wheat and grapes are also at risk of extinction. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost in the last century. Is your favorite crop next on the endangered species list?
One Response
leave one →
The problem is not probably the banana's sexlessness. The problem is more likely their cultivation practice, which has caused their enemies to accumulate. That is an 8 > 9 problem. The 10? Let's make a great new banana. So the banana doesn't have sex. It's the egg of a tree. Let's write a codon or two. It'll be better and it will teach us about writing a codon or two for mankind, coming 2012-13.
We need to evolve without relying on sex. Sex is a slightly involuntary system which is socially expensive and ineffective at protecting or advancing dense and large populations. It'll only divide us.
There is something greater than sex.