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Honduras at the forefront in
saving bananas from extinction
 Don
Juan, sells many different varieties of bananas grown in Honduras.
By JONATHAN MARCIANO
The contents of fruit bowls across nations, not to mention the fates of
republics such as Honduras could change forever, according to an article in
New Scientist magazine.
In the 18 January article, the magazine states
that the banana is under severe threat of extinction. The toll of virulent
pests and diseases has taken its course, and bananas, the staple in 120
countries, could die out in ten years. The article has put the spotlight on
the banana production and protection industry, and on a fight in which
Honduran scientists are at the forefront.
The new threat is a reinvigorated strain of Panama disease (Fusarium Wilt)
known as Race 4, which is threatening the Cavendish banana, the world’s
major export variety. The disease has spread through plantations in
Australia, South Africa and parts of Asia. The feature states that it is
only a matter of time before Race 4 reaches the hub of commercial production
in Latin America and the Caribbean. Bananas producers are unable to find new
improved and resistant varieties easily because cultivated bananas are
sterile and do not have seeds. They are made from shoots, with no way to
cross one variety with another, shortwiring the possibility of beneficial
genetic changes. 99.5 percent of banana eaters in the world eat varieties,
selected by farmers that have not changed in centuries.
In Honduras, work is being done to create resistance. Scientists at the
Honduran Agricultural Research Foundation (Fundacion Hondurena de
Investigacion Agricola —FHIA) inherited an ongoing breeding program in La
Lima, Honduras from the Chiquita Brands Company. The scientists are
analyzing the bananas of the Musaceae family, a basic food in the tropical
regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific, also struck by
the disease.
“All commercial plant varieties are prone to diseases”, says Adolfo
Martinez, director General of FHIA. “The researcher’s task is to find ways
to protect the plants against diseases and pest, either by breeding in
resistance, through chemical protection or cultural practices”.
The team has already created 26 hybrids since 1990. These varieties ccan be
found in dessert bananas, cooking bananas, plantains, and even a banana
selected to be used in Uganda to make fermented beer. These varieties are
used in commercial production in countries, including Cuba, Australia,
Honduras, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
The Honduras team has a strong record against old foe Race 4, protecting
Honduran plantations until now. “In Honduras, the Cavendish banana produced
is resistant to all the races of fungus found in the country”, explains
Martinez. “The only control for this disease is the use of resistant
varieties. FHIA breeds for varieties resistant to all the races of the
fungus that causes Fusarium Wilt”.
It has meant, however that the taste and shape of the bananas must change,
which Martinez does not see as a bad thing. “So far we have not been able to
accurately reproduce the prototype shape and taste of the Cavendish variety,
but we are very close. But he suggests, “what is wrong with having several
varieties of bananas available to the consumer? If you drive the highways of
Honduras you have certainly stopped at the fruit stands where you can
encounter up to six varieties or types of Musa (banana) on sale. In any
supermarket in the United States, you can now choose between traditional
Cavendish bananas, red bananas, plantains, ladyfinger bananas, to name only
a few”.
His team dismisses the end of the banana, borne by the New Scientist, or
those economies based on the fruit production face a crisis on a scale not
seen since the Irish potato famine. “The modern situation is entirely
different from the era of the potato famine when the ineffective nature of
plant diseases was not known by the scientific community. There are plenty
of other staple crops that can fill the gap if there is a widespread loss of
yield in the staple Musa crops in Asia and Africa. Additionally there are
sufficient disease resistant varieties available in the FHIA hybrids to
provide carbohydrate nutrition to the populations in tropical areas where
Musa is a staple crop”.
GM production is being mooted as one controversial solution to the problem.
However the Honduras team is skeptical. “To date there are few or no GM
plant varieties that have been developed with disease resistance”, says
Martinez. “Finding the genes for disease resistance to fungal pathogens is a
very difficult process and I don’t believe that the tools are available in
biotechnology yet to do this”.
The battle is important for Honduras and the world. Bananas and plantains in
Honduras are considered a staple.
These two crops alone have an annual value of $150m. In the world nearly 100
million tons of bananas are produced by 120 countries in subtropical and
tropical zones.
Despite the Honduran push, other organizations suggest that not enough is
being done. The International Network for the Improvement of Banana and
Plantain (INIBAP) co-ordinates research and carries out hundreds of program
worldwide. An INIBAP spokesman, confirms that it has been left to only five
scientists globally to breed improved bananas. “Such a meager research
effort is decidedly out of proportion to the scale and importance of the
problem. But currently there is alarmingly little investment compared to the
global significance of the crop. This must be reversed if the world’s most
popular fruit, an important survival food for families in the tropics, is
not to decline further”.
In the country in which the banana, and its commercial protectors exert a
tight grip, it is up to the scientists to guard the drawbridges in defense
of the Banana Republic.
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BUSINESS AND
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK |
Businesses ignore senior
citizen discount
The District Attorney’s office initiated on Wednesday in co-ordination with
other institutions, a series of operations to establish the veracity of
denouncements claiming that some businesses do not grant the 25 percent
discount applicable to purchases made by senior citizens.
Roberto Martinez, the representative of the Public Ministry explained that
if the claims were found to be true, administrative sanctions would be
applied by the Police Court and the Secretary of Commerce.
The discount should be applied when senior citizens with the appropriate
identification make the purchase. – LA TRIBUNA
Increase of banana pineapple production
Standard fruit has announced important enlargements of it’s agricultural
operations. The farms of Guanacaste, La Paz and La Esperanza will see the
greatest expansion of banana growth. They are hoping to expand their
capacity by 2.5 million boxes annually. They are also hoping to augment
their income from pineapples by 1.1 million dollars and increase of 1.2
million boxes annually. — LA TRIBUNA
Tourism will generate 413 million dollars during 2003
Optimism is on the rise as is income generated from tourism. Government
officials registered a 25 percent increase in the number of tourists
entering Honduras as well as a 27.5 percent increase in the income generated
by this industry in 2002. The major attractions were Copan Ruins and the Bay
Islands.
Honduras’ participation on the world tourism market accounts for .04 percent
of the number of tourists worldwide and .01 percent of the revenue. Each
tourist spends approximately US$750 a day in the country.
According to the Minister of Tourism, Thierry de Pierrefeu, the sector has
been able to achieve these results through project planning. At this time,
the Tela Bay project is being executed through a private investment of 140
million dollars that will serve as a distribution point to other development
poles such as the Bay Islands, Copan and the Omoa-Trujillo Corridor. Work
has begun to restore the Fort of Santa Barbara and the Arms Plaza in
Trujillo, and at the same time an eco-tourism development project on the
Garifuna coast was initiated. Other new activities include a web page and
direct charter flights from Canada. A temporary runway was built in the
department of Copan a t the same time as another one was constructed in
Guatemala. The purpose of these airstrips is serve to cruise ship tourists
in either country that wish to visit the Maya region.
Recent studies show that 45 percent of the tourists come from North America,
70 percent are men, 33 percent are between the ages of 31 and 40 years of
age, 21 percent possess a university degree and 44 percent came on a
friend’s recommendation. – EL HERALDO
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