Love Bananas? What If We’re Facing Banana Extinction?
It’s hard to imagine a world without bananas. When we were kids, they were a staple in our lunchboxes, and as adults, they’re an easy fruit to grab on our way to the office. So it’s no wonder that each time we hear the banana’s future may be threatened, we perk up and ask questions.
Trouble is, we keep getting different answers. Are we on the brink of banana extinction, or not? According to the pro genetic engineering website GMO-compass.org, we are —
Are we losing the banana or not? Original photo: http://conservationmagazine.org/2008/09/the-sterile-banana/
For the last thirty years a new disease has been becoming more and more widespread. The disease is called Black Sigatoka. Right now, the only way to treat this new disease is by applying massive doses of fungicides – a practice which is losing effectiveness as the fungus is becoming more resistant. In several regions the disease can cut banana yield in half, leading farmers to spray their plantations up to fifty times a year. This practice endangers the environment and the health of plantation workers.
GMO-supporters tell us genetically engineering the banana could contribute to food security in many tropical countries, help cut back on fungicide spraying, improve the health of farmers and cut the costs associated with spraying so frequently.
But when we turn our head and hear the other side, primarily the anti-GMO camp, such as gmwatch.org, it seems the banana isn’t so bad off after all.
Stories suggesting GM is the only means of saving the banana follow a classic pattern. An exaggerated crisis narrative is created in order to then present genetic engineering as the magical solution to an otherwise intractable problem.
But the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has directly contradicted the claim that bananas are on the verge of extinction, saying that while there are problems of vulnerability to disease, this is aggravated by the widescale commercial use of the Cavendish banana, and can be countered by promoting greater genetic diversity.
GMO controversy, meet the banana. Banana, meet the GMO controversy.
To read gmo-compass.org’s position, visit:
http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/grocery_shopping/fruit_vegetables/17.bananas_using_genetic_engineering_against_fungal_disease.html
To read gmwatch.org’s take, go to:
http://www.gmwatch.org/only-gm-can-save-the-banana
