Fungus threatens 'banana armageddon' that will wipe out crops worldwide in just five years

A deadly plant disease is threatening to wipe out bananas within just five years.

Scientists are desperately trying to find a remedy for the 'Sigatoka complex' before bananas as we know them become extinct.

Now, researchers have discovered why it is so effective at killing - it is actually three fungal diseases in one.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and in the Netherlands found  three fungal diseases have evolved into a lethal threat to the world's bananas.

In the Americas and Europe, 'banana' usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries.

The Cavendish banana plants all originated from one plant and so as clones, they all have the same genotype — and that is a recipe for disaster

A TRIPLE WHAMMY FUNGUS 

The Sigatoka complex's three fungal diseases — yellow Sigatoka (Pseudocercospora musae), eumusae leaf spot (Pseudocercospora eumusae) and black Sigatoka (Pseudocercospora figiensis) — emerged as destructive pathogens in just the last century.

Eumusae leaf spot and black Sigatoka are now the most devastating, with black Sigatoka posing the greatest constraint to banana production worldwide. 

The constant threat of the disease requires farmers to make 50 fungicide applications to their banana crops each year to control the disease

BANANA FACTS 

The banana is one of the world's top five staple foods. 

About 100 million tons of bananas are produced annually in nearly 120 countries. 

In the Americas and Europe, 'banana' usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries.

The Cavendish banana plants all originated from one plant and so as clones, they all have the same genotype — and that is a recipe for disaster.