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Yes, we have no bananas today

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by Beryl Octet, Feb 8, 2007.

  1. Beryl Octet

    Beryl Octet New Member

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    Yeah, I know, it's the guardian, not my top choice for science news, but it sounded interesting.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,...,875612,00.html

    It is a freakish, doped-up, mutant clone which hasn't had sex for thousands of years - and the strain may be about to tell on the nation's fruitbowl favourite. Scientists based in France have warned that, without radical and swift action, in 10 years' time we really could have no bananas.

    Two fungal diseases, Panama disease and black Sigatoka, are cutting a swath through banana plantations, just as blight once devastated potato crops. But unlike the potato, and other crops where disease-resistant strains can be bred by conventional means, making a fungus-free variety of the banana is extraordinarily difficult.
     
    #1 Beryl Octet, Feb 8, 2007
  2. SSimon

    SSimon Active Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Feb 8 2007, 09:34 AM) [snapback]386900[/snapback]</div>
    Better start cultivating Paw Paws. They're supposedly healthier anyways. So many diseases affect the health of our plants. I'm assuming the large Ash in my front yard will be dead in a few years from the borer. Hopefully, nothing starts attacking our Oaks. That would be devistating to me.
     
    #2 SSimon, Feb 8, 2007
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