In August, the Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) confirmed the devastating news for the banana sector in Latin America: the disease identified in some banana farms in the Colombian region of La Guajira is the dreaded Tropical race 4 (TR4), a strain of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum.
Although the ICA, with the support of guilds, Agrosavia and experts from Bioversity International and other institutions, have developed a timely containment and mitigation intervention, the fact that this disease, which originated in South East Asia, has managed to conquer the Americas sets off alarm bells.
The issue is that banana production, especially for export markets, is based on one of the largest mono cultures in the world, mainly relying on a single variety called the Cavendish. This means that all the plants are genetically similar and, as such, highly vulnerable to diseases like TR4, which can easily break their poor defences.