![]() Likewise none of them have enjoyed the benefits of the frenzied gene-shuffling facilitated by sexual congress. While these other varieties display more genetic variability, all come from the same sterile Musa hybrids which so delighted our forebears thousands of years ago. They also all share the same potential for yellow curvaceousness and the same susceptibility to disease.Īlthough there are numerous other banana and plantain varieties cultivated for local consumption in Africa and Asia, none has the same worldwide appeal as the Cavendish. Every Cavendish is genetically identical, possessing the same pleasant taste (which is somewhat lacking in more subtle flavours according to banana aficionados). It is exported on an industrial scale from commercial plantations in the tropics. This is the banana found in the supermarkets, splits, and milkshakes of the developed world. Among temperate palates, the most familiar is the Cavendish, a shapely and sweet-tasting dessert banana. Today, bananas and their close relatives, the starchy plantains, grow in a number of different varieties or cultivars. Thus the tasty new banana was spared from an otherwise unavoidable evolutionary dead-end. Arab traders carried these new wonderfruit to Africa, and Spanish conquistadors relayed them onwards to the Americas. An intensive and prolonged process of selective breeding-aided by the variety of hybrids and occasional random genetic mutations-eventually evolved the banana into its present familiar form. The genetically identical progeny produced this way remained sterile, yet the new plant could be widely propagated with human help. They also proved an excellent source of carbohydrates and other important nutrients.ĭespite the hybrid’s unfortunate sexual impotence, shrewd would-be agriculturalists realised that the plants could be cultivated from suckering shoots and cuttings taken from the underground stem. Some ten thousand years ago, early human experimenters noted that some of these hybridized Musa bore unexpectedly tasty, seedless fruit with an unheard-of yellowness and inexplicably amusing shape. Nonetheless, these closely related plants occasionally cross-pollinate and spawn seedlings which grow into sterile, half-breed banana plants. ![]() Between these two products of nature, the former produces unpalatable fruit flesh, and the latter is far too seedy for enjoyable consumption. The banana plant is a hybrid, originating from the mismatched pairing of two South Asian wild plant species: Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The banana’s problem can be summed up in a single word: sex. Its cheerful appearance hides a fatal flaw- one that threatens its proud place in the grocery basket. Indeed, the “miraculous” banana is far from being a no-strings-attached gift from nature. The banana, however, is a freakish and fragile genetic mutant one that has survived through the centuries due to the sustained application of selective breeding by diligent humans. It is difficult to conceive of a more fortuitous fruit. Indeed, the banana appears almost purpose-designed for efficient human consumption and distribution. Individual fruit-or fingers-sit comfortably in the human hand, readily detached from their close-packed companions. People across the globe appreciate the soft, nourishing flesh, the snack-sized portions, and the easy-peel covering that conveniently changes colour to indicate ripeness. The banana is vitally important in many regions of the tropics, where different parts of the plant are used for clothing, paper and tableware, and where the fruit itself is an essential dietary staple. Colourful, nutritious, and much cherished by children, monkeys and clowns, it has a favoured position in the planet’s fruitbowls. The growing issues of cyst nematodes is certainly needed a better solution.The humble banana almost seems like a miracle of nature. Ash residue is highly porous and, possibly, can retain small molecules. ![]() To tackle this, we alternated crops and used some recommended pesticides.įor potato, we also noticed that a pesticide is more effective if we mix it with ash of burned paddy or wheat straws, and cover the seed potato with the mixture. We noticed white cysts a couple of times. I can relate to the problem of crop loss as we had faced the situation many times while growing potato and other crops in our farmland in India. ![]() So, it would be great if the technology becomes simplified so that a farmer can reproduce it at home to use. Now-a-days, the cost of farming is very high, especially in India. Potato cyst nematodes widely reported in Tamil Nadu and several northern states in India, as well. Congratulations to the team associated with this research! This is an important breakthrough for crop protection.
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