Why the banana is facing a major crisis in India

The humble banana, a major staple food for millions of families, is at risk due to a fungal disease ravaging crops world over. Recently, Colombia declared a national emergency after plantations were found infected with Fusarium wilt. The threat looms large in India as well, which is the largest producer of the fruit at 30 million metric tons (MT), accounting for 29% of the global output. medium nocaption71011687An old strain of the disease had wiped out the Gros Michel variety of banana that dominated the world market in the early 19th century. Experts have now warned that Cavendish, a popular variety of banana, that replaced Gros Michel and other banana varities in India are now at risk of a new variant of the disease, known as Tropical Race 4 (TR4).TR4 is a dreaded name and for good reason. The strain gets into the stem through the roots and eventually kills it. In the few instances in which losses because of the TR4 fungus have been estimated, they amounted to US$121 million in Indonesia, US$253.3 million in Taiwan and US$14.1 million in Malaysia. large nocaption71011170“Fusarium wilt disease has become a serious threat to sustainability of Indian banana growers. It is important to contain spread of this disease by completely quarantining the infected field and preventing the movement and entry and/or exit of any material from there,” quoted a recent article in Agrotechnology journal authored by Dr Siddhesh B Ghag, DST-INSPIRE Faculty at UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai. Ghag has studied the Fusarium wilt disease in bananas for close to a decade now. “The threat has never been stronger. TR4 has a broader host range that includes Cavendish cultivars and also varieties vulnerable to previous strains of the disease,” Dr Ghag told TOI. medium nocaption71011191Another expert who is researching the disease, Sivalingam Elayabalan B, assistant professor (agricultural biotechnology), Imayam Institute of Agriculture & Technology (IIAT) in Tamil Nadu added, “Fusarium wilt is the biggest threat to banana production today. The disease is now widespread in almost all banana-growing states of India. In Tamil Nadu, Fusarium wilt has severely affected plantations near Kaveri river basin in Trichy district. In Karnataka, we found plantations growing Nanjangud Rasabale banana cultivar to be affected by the disease.”Dr Ghag, however, said it would take time for the disease’s impact to be visible on the country’s total yield since the new variant had started spreading far and wide only last year. In recent years, total banana production as well as total area under cultivation in India has increased from 29 million MT (area 8.41 lakh ha) in 2015-16 crop year to 30 million MT (8.84 lakh ha) in 2017-18 crop year. The second advanced estimate by the agriculture ministry for 2018-19 crop year pegs production at 31 million MT from 9 lakh ha.Experts said that Fusarium wilt remains dormant in soil which means no fresh plantations are possible in the infected field. Thus, farmers in affected regions are growing other crops — such as maize or paddy — or migrating. The pathogen has been found in plantations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. It has also been reported from Jalgaon district in Maharashtra which is a major banana growing hub of India. medium nocaption71045463Vishwanath Meher, president of Mumbai Banana Merchants’ Association, told TOI that banana growing areas of Jalgaon, Sangli, Satara, Pune and Kolhapur have recorded production losses due to the disease in recent years. Close to Jalgaon, in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur, RNS Tomar, deputy director in-charge of horticulture department, said the pathogen has not been reported from the farms yet.But in Uttar Pradesh at least seven districts, including Gorakhpur and Faizabad, have reported production losses from 30% to 50% this season. Director of Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture in Lucknow, Shailendra Rajan admitted there was need to sensitize state officials for control of the disease. medium nocaption71011363Artificial intelligence can also help bring bananas back from the brink. Sivalingam is part of a team testing a new smartphone tool which can scan banana plants for signs of diseases — including Fusarium wilt. “An AI tool such as this one can improve crop surveillance, fast-track mitigation efforts and help farmers prevent production losses,” said Michael Selvaraj, the lead author of a study published in journal Plant Methods last week, which detailed the tool. large nocaption71045458Selvaraj from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia told TOI over email that the tool is built into a smartphone app which a farmer can download and use to scan photos of parts of the fruit, bunch or plant to determine presence and nature of the disease or pest.Changing the way bananas are farmed could go a long way in stopping disease outbreaks. Currently, most banana plantations are monoculture (large scale, single-crop) plantations that fuel the spread of the pathogen. Moving from monoculture to farms that include a diversity of crops can be one solution to limit the spread, experts said.boxcontent medium nocaption70974979Rotten future?A recent study published in Nature Climate Change has found that climate change could negatively impact banana cultivation in some of the world's most important producing and exporting countries. While 27 countries have on average seen increased crop yield since 1961 due to the changing climate resulting in more favourable growing conditions, 10 countries — including the world's largest producer and consumer of banana India, fourth largest producer Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Philippines — could see a significant decline in crop yields if climate change continues at its expected rate, according to the study led by Dr Dan Bebber from the University of Exeter. Untitled Carousel 70972811(Inputs from Neha Shukla in UP, B B Nayak in Maharashtra, Meenakshi Sharma in Madhya Pradesh)