PANAMA DISEASE BACKGROUND

Just like how the Gros Michel banana was wiped out by the Tropical Race 1 (TR1), the Cavendish banana is now being wiped out by the Tropical Race 4 (TR4). The Tropical Race 1 is an earlier strand of the Fusarium fungus, while Tropical Race 4 is a later strand of the Fusarium fungus. However, unlike the TR1, the Cavendish banana is now being wiped out by the TR4 which is more deadly and affects more of the local banana breeds. 

The disease has spread in the majority of Asia’s banana-producing countries such as commercial Cavendish banana plantations in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In 2013, the TR4 had further spread to Mozambique and in Colombia in 2019. Pleotz, who is a professor at the University of Florida’s Tropical Research and Education Centre, thinks that the TR4 was possibly carried on the boots and on the equipment of the banana planters from southeast Asia. The Panama disease causes growing concern because as the TR4 is continuing to spread, it affects tropical and developing countries' banana farmer income, source of food, and government revenue.

How Tropical Race 4 kills the cavendish banana

1. fungus in the soil

The TR4 fungus can live undetected in the soil for decades. It can be transmitted via three main modes of transmission:

Farming tools

When infected farming tools are used to plant in a new area, the fungus is then spread into that area.

Soil

The infected soil can attach to the farmer's or visitor's vehicles, shoes, and clothes. The fungus then travels with the farmer or visitor to new unaffected areas.

Farming tools

When infected farming tools are used to plant in a new area, the fungus is then spread into that area.

2 fungus spreads through the plant

After the soil has been infested with the fungus, the TR4 then affects the banana from the roots. It then spreads to the water and the banana’s plant connective tissue. With that, the TR4 chokes the banana plant of water and nutrients, which eventually kills it.

3 aftermath

Around two to nine months later, the banana plant is then hollowed out from the inside. With the hollow structure, the banana plant collapses in on itself. The infected soil becomes useless for growing bananas because of the TR4 fungus in the soil.