Bananas There are many varieties of bananas. Some are grown for fibre for strong ropes but most are fruits. The banana plant is actually a large herb, the fruit turns from deep-green to yellow or red and is often curved. The edible bananas came from the Indo-Malaysian region and are today grown in every humid tropical region They are the 4th largest fruit crop of the world. World production is estimated to be 28 million tons - 65% from Latin America, 27 % from Southeast Asia, and 7 % from Africa. Bananas are the staple food of some 400 million people in the developing world.

Bananas Almost all bananas which we eat are from a single variety, the Cavendish. This variety come from India. The world Cavendish crop is threatened a disease - the black sigatoka fungus. New hybrids resistant to the fungus must be developed. This is difficult because the seedless modern fruit does not reproduce sexually and has to be bred from cuttings. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that wild banana species are going extinct because Indian forests are destroyed. It could take a global effort to save the banana.

Bananas "What is happening is the inevitable consequence of growing one genotype on a large scale" Banana producers are being asked to promote greater genetic diversity in commercial bananas. Biotechnology and genetic manipulation might save the fruit. Consumer concerns over GM foods could slow down any such research. Small-scale farmers around the world grow a wide range of bananas that are not threatened by the disease currently attacking bananas sold in Europe and North America. It seems to be vital that scientists: sequence the banana genome research the genetic characteristics of the varieties resistant to disease establish banana gene-banks