The reduction in the types of crops, for commercial purposes, reduces the resistance to epidemics
Avi Blizovsky
One of the world's favorite fruits - the banana may disappear from the face of the earth without urgent intervention from science. This is what a plant pathology expert from Belgium says.
Emile Frison, head of the International Banana Improvement Network in Montpierre, France, said that the fruit does not have enough genetic variation to fight the diseases and pests that attack the banana bushes and only genetic manipulations and biotechnology can help save the plant. Freeson claims that this is the banana's only hope. This is what the weekly New Scientist said.
Without aid, the banana crop may die and symbolize the beginning of the end of the plant "We will see the extinction of the banana both as a fruit that saves the lives of the hungry and as a help to Africa as one of the most popular African exports in supermarkets, the magazine added.
Moshe Weiss, director of the pest department at the Plant Protection Service at the Ministry of Agriculture, says that the fungus, Sigatoka Black, which damages plantations in Africa and Asia, does not exist in Israel. We do not bring bananas into Israel, period. As for tissue cultures for the purpose of multiplying the fruit - these enter Israel only after a stay at our quarantine station.
And what about the Palestinian Authority? Is there no fear that the fungus will come from them?
"The external borders are not in the hands of the Palestinian Authority, so the policy is the same policy. I don't know where Frizon's apocalyptic prophecy comes from, but if part of it comes true, maybe we can export a lot of bananas because the disease is absent in Israel."
The Earth Conference in Johannesburg/ selected issues: the globalization of the banana
27/8/2002
Barry James Herald Tribune
Bananas, says Emile Frison, have a thousand flavors, colors, textures and sizes, but most people only know one banana. There is nothing better to illustrate the problem of dwindling biodiversity than the humble banana, the most traded fruit in the world. Mainly for commercial reasons, Frison says, almost all bananas sold in industrialized countries come from a single species known as the Cavendish.
Frieson is the director of the international network for the improvement of the banana and plantain (a species of banana) in Montpellier, France. It is one organization in a group of organizations around the world known as the "Advisory Group for International Agricultural Research", and strives to preserve the genetic heritage of the planet for future generations.
The threat to biological diversity is one of the first topics on the agenda of the Earth Conference in Johannesburg, and it is expected that it will establish a "Trust Fund for the Preservation of the World", which will help preserve the collections of plants whose condition is most critical. In uniform bananas, says Frizon, "it's easier to trade"; They ripen at the same time, which makes it easier to pick and send them, "and the multinational corporations that dominate the industry
are not interested in diversity". But in the banana kingdom, he says, there are much better and tastier types.
However, the uniformity, intended for trade purposes, means that the supply in the entire world is exposed to pests, epidemics or natural disasters; These could quickly collapse the market and with it the headquarters of hundreds of thousands of families engaged in agricultural cultivation for corporations, whose people hardly take any risks.
It already happened. "Fifty years ago there was another species that included most of the commercial bananas in the world, the Gro Michel, which was wiped out by the Panama disease - a fungus that attacks the roots," said Frison. "Had it not been for the discovery of another species with characteristics close to those of the Hagro Michel, the banana trade would have been greatly reduced."
But a more aggressive and dangerous species of Panama disease, and an even more violent fungus called Sigatoka Black, attack Cavendish bananas in Asia, Australia and Africa, and if they spread to Latin America, "the whole industry could be gone within ten years," Frison said. To stop the spread of the fungus, farmers should spray the trees more often.
This example illustrates why it is so essential to preserve the more than 1,400 genetic banks of crops in the world, which include approximately 5.4 million samples of plants and seeds - a legacy of ten thousand years of planting, plowing and growing crops for human use. They also include the many wild species, which may not currently have commercial use but may contain genes that confer resistance to disease or climate change.
Scientists warn that many of those collections, most of which are government-owned, are not properly maintained due to lack of budgets. The situation of many collections, especially in developing countries, is fragile because it is impossible to redo the necessary periodic plantings to renew the seeds.
In order to overcome this crisis, and breathe life into the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is being ignored even though it entered into force in 1993, major agricultural organizations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are striving to establish a conservation fund that will ensure continuous funding for collections and the availability of genetic material for all of humanity. They hope to get the funding to establish the fund, 250 million dollars, from the governments.
Scientists say gene banks are needed now more than ever because of the extinction of wild plants due to deforestation, climate change and widespread mono-crop agriculture. Because of the emphasis on high-yielding modern crops, aided by generous doses of fertilizers, the global food supply has become more homogeneous.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that three-quarters of the original species of agricultural crops have been lost and disappeared from the fields since 1900. This loss of diversity has accelerated in the last twenty years, and "unfortunately, this is sometimes done under the guise of development programs in which single-crop crops are grown in large areas," Frizon said. "This may indeed increase production, but exposes farmers to disasters, diseases and drought of all kinds."
At the same time, natural species that have evolved over millions of years are pushed aside and genetically modified crops take their place. Much of the soybeans, cotton, canola and corn contain genes that have been introduced from other life forms, and may in the future cross with other crops. Some scientists warn of weedy "superweeds" that are resistant to herbicides, and also of blurring the dividing line between species, which may allow pathogens to spread outside their natural hosts.
According to data published by the "International Service for the Acquisition of Biotechnology Applications for Agricultural Purposes", the area of land in the world designated for crops in which genetic changes were made increased 30 times and more between the years 1997 and 2001, from 17 million dunams to 523 million. Only one company, named "Monsanto", was in charge in 2001 of 91% of the area designated for genetically modified crops for commercial purposes. In fact, all crops that have undergone such changes are grown in four countries - the United States, Canada, Argentina and China.
The latest report on the state of the world, compiled by the Worldwatch Institute, stated that in more than 80% of the crop lands in American states such as Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, only two species are grown: corn or soybeans. The report states that this "requires extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, since single-crop crops invite pests and extract many nutrients from the soil."
This trend of "genetically uniform fields assisted by chemical pesticides" is spreading around the world, and there is a danger that these fields will crush the legs of crops that are considered unsuitable for the modern requirements of food production. This is largely due to the fact that industrial agriculture is increasingly controlled by a small number of companies. According to the Worldwatch Institute, five companies control 65% of the global pesticide market. Five grain trading companies control more than 75% of the world market for this product. A small number of multinational corporations dominate most of the world trade in coffee, cocoa, pineapple, tea and sugar.
But scientists like Frieson warn that what is good for business is not necessarily good for the future of the global food supply. Farmers have always relied on diversity in nature to protect against hard times. In the Andes, for example, the agricultural communities grow about 3,000 different species of potatoes.
"There is no species that is not useful to humans," said Frison. "When we think about benefit, we refer to it first of all in economic terms, but development is not only a matter of money. It is also related to social and cultural values - the ability to continue growing the crop that is part of your culture. The reduction of species leads to the destruction of the social fabric, and societies become more vulnerable. The multinational corporations don't want diversity, but it is essential for farmers."
(The Hidan website was until the end of 2002 part of the IOL portal from the Haaretz group)
