Them bananas bad for you
BANANA FARMING SLIPPING IN EAST AFRICA: It’s a bit of a mouthful, but a disease called bacterial banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) is decimating banana plants and may put millions of East African farmers out of business if something isn’t done about it.
Already, it’s devastated crops in Uganda, the world’s second largest banana producer after India, and experts say it could wipe out all bananas in Africa, reports U.N. news service IRIN. Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also affected.
And it’s not just farmers who are at risk – bananas and plantains are the world’s fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat, and maize. In some places, people eat close to 1 kg of bananas every day, says Bioversity International.
The disease spreads like wildfire, and the only “cure” is to cut down infected crops and leave the field fallow for at least six months. The labour-intensive process of decapitating male buds also helps prevent infection.
Reuters AlertNet
