Stephen Mihm: Prepare for the global banana-pocalypse, thanks to a failure to diversify

By STEPHEN MIHM |
January 22, 2018 at 12:21 am

The banana-pocalypse is coming. That’s the likelihood that sometime in the next decade, bananas may disappear, victims of a fungal pathogen known as Panama disease. The disease is on the march throughout the world, threatening the future of the world’s most popular fruit.

Panama Disease may be the cause of this disaster, but it’s also a symptom of a bigger problem afflicting global agriculture: a failure to diversify. For the past couple of centuries, the tendency has been to adopt a single reputable cultivar and — literally — bet the farm on it.

The most devastating case study in the dangers of monoculture comes from Ireland in the 1840s. After the discovery of potatoes in the New World, the Irish began cultivating them en masse. But while the Incas and other peoples had cultivated thousands of varieties of potatoes, the Irish grew only three kinds, mostly a homely variety known as the Lumper.

This particular potato proved remarkably productive. But it was vulnerable to a fungal pathogen known as Phytophthora infestans, better known as potato blight. In 1845, the organism destroyed that year’s crop of Lumpers, then raged across the rest of Europe. It’s estimated that a million people died of starvation in Ireland alone, with another 2 million people emigrating out of desperation.

More:
https://www.twincities.com/2018/01/22/stephen-mihm-prepare-for-the-global-bananapocalypse-thanks-to-a-failure-to-diversify/

Environment and energy:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127115123