The threat of Panama Disease

In 2015 Dr Gert HJ Kema made aerial images of banana plantations in the Davao region of Mindanao, the Philippines; the heart of commercial Cavendish banana production for the export trade. The Tropical Race 4 lineage of the devastating fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense that causes Panama disease has left its scars in the landscape. Parts of plantations have been wiped out by the fungus that is an increasing and continuos threat to Philippine banana prediction as it also affects many local cultivars.

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