In a collaborative project, researchers from Bioversity International and India’s Imayam Institute of Agriculture and Technology and Texas A&M University have developed a new smartphone app for banana growers to allow them to detect signs of the five major diseases plus one common pest. The growers just scan the banana plant and the app does the rest. It is reputed to have a 90% success rate.
Bananas are the worlds most popular fruit and are an essential staple food for many families, plus of course they provide a valuable income for the growers.
The Gros Michel banana, or Big Mike, famed for its size, thick peel (resistant to bruising) and prolific bunches, made them the ideal banana for growers in Central America to export to Europe and North America. Sadly in the 1950’s, Big Mike got struck down by the Panama disease. This was a wilting disease caused by a fungus and it devastated plantations in Honduras and Costa Rica amongst others.
Some say the old song, Yes! We have no bananas, was inspired by a shortage of bananas during one of the early outbreaks of Panama disease. Let’s hope the app will give us early warning of any similar occurrence so that we can ensure the continued delivery of the worlds favourite fruit.