The suspected case of Panama disease in Queensland is unsurprising and will serve as a 'warning shot' for the global industry, not only for finding a new variety but to rethink the whole business model, according to banana expert Dan Koeppel. 

Last week a suspected case of the incurable Panama Disease Tropical Race IV (TR4) was detected on a plantation in the North Queensland region of Tully, prompting the state's biosecurity authorities to quarantine the farm.

If confirmed, it would be the first time TR4 has been detected in Queensland. In the 1990s the disease hit production on plantations in Australia's Northern Territory, and wiped out the vast majority of farms.

Koeppel, who authored the book 'Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World', said it was arguable that the spread of TR4 was inevitable and major industry changes needed to take place.

"The problem isn't the Australian banana industry, or for that matter the U.S. companies, the Latin American banana companies or the banana companies in Mozambique; the problem is that there's no global strategy," he told www.freshfruitportal.com.

"But when you're facing a disease that's almost impossible to stop, even with a global strategy, the one thing you can do is get all your ducks in a row world-wide – that hasn't happened. And because that hasn't happened, I'm not surprised."

Koeppel explained there's been so little varietal research into new and more resistant cultivars because of the current banana business model that is focused on efficiency with one single product.

"Everything the banana industry does throughout the world is focused on delivering the Cavendish breed," he said.

"Other breeds have to be grown and delivered differently, so that means everything from what you do on the plantation to shipping to marketing, consumer education, distribution – each banana has different characteristics.

"Now it wouldn't by any means be impossible to do this, if the whole industry approved it. When I was a kid we only had two kinds of apples from the U.S., and now we have 20 or 30."

He also said that, if confirmed, this case in Australia would be a significant wake-up call to the global industry as sectors in other countries would be far worse-equipped to prevent and control the easily-spread disease.

"If Australia can't contain this disease, nobody can. Bananas often sold in the U.S. are grown in third-world countries by hard-working people, but there's no plantation-wide discipline, cleaning, sanitation, on that level that you had in Australia," Koeppel said.

"Australia has been talking about banana biosecurity for over 10 years. Whether it's a typhoon whipping up infected soil, I don't think we know...it only takes a small clump of dirt, so you can take all the biosecurity you want but when you're facing an incurable disease it might not be enough.

"I think it's really going to be a wake-up call to start looking not just for an alternate variety, but start rethinking the whole business model that puts all the bananas in one basket, so to speak. Anybody who has a garden at home, anyone who has a farm knows you need variety. You don't just grow one crop - it's a recipe for disaster."

'No room for half measures'

Some promising varietal research has been taking place throughout the world, such as the TR4-resistant Formosana variety (or GCTCV-218) that was bred in Taiwan. The variety is said to be high-yielding and has reportedly received favorable responses from the Japanese and Taiwanese markets.

In the Philippines, growers are taking to another TR4-resistant variety called the GCTCV 219, that was released by the country's Department of Agriculture (DA).

"The answer is going to be not one banana, but many. Consumers want variety – other bananas taste different and better. So the question is what are we going to use to replace the commodity Cavendish?" Koeppel said.

"Bananas can get very sick, it's not just Panama disease, there are a lot of bananas diseases, some of which are pretty controllable if you want to use harsh pesticides, some of which are pretty easy to control.

"As I always say all bananas get sick, but not all bananas get sick the same way. The kiwifruit industry in New Zealand has learned this the hard way."

In terms of what can now be done within Australia to try and control the suspected case of the disease as much as possible, Koeppel said it would require a coordinated effort from everyone living in the affected area - not just the industry - and some farmers might have to make some hard decisions.

"The farmers will need to have a lot of discipline, they're going to need to listen to the scientists, and more importantly they're going to need to be willing to abandon their fields and not grow bananas there any more," he said.

"That is something that is very very hard to do...but there's no room for half measures. Contaminated fields need to be abandoned, period.

"We have seen some willingness in Darwin [Northern Territory] to do that, but not always. It involved as much politics and public relations as it did cold hard scientific facts. You're going to need to get these farmers to do the right thing, and they're going to need to be compensated for that."

Chiquita uncertainty

In addition to the subject of Panama disease, the banana expert also spoke briefly about what one of the world's largest banana companies, Chiquita Brands International, might look like under its new ownership.

The multinational was recently taken over by Brazilian firms the Cutrale Group and the Safra Group for a total transaction value of US$1.3 billion.

Koeppel claimed while the company had appeared to be gradually changing for the better over recent years, the new ownership meant no one seemed to know what the future might hold.

"Chiquita in the past two years had come pretty far in terms of social responsibility, talking to the press, including me – they would never speak to me before - owning up to their past, owning up to the idea that Panama disease is real, that it needs to be discussed, that there are problems with monoculture. I had a very long conversation with some of their people," he said.

"I can't say they've convinced me that Chiquita is the greatest company on earth, but they were a thousand times more open than before.

"Now this ownership change throws all that into disarray. We don't really know what the new Chiquita is going to look like."

He also said that, given Chiquita's complicated history, it would be nice to think that Latin American ownership would bring about a different approach, but he alleged this was not necessarily the case with other banana companies like Ecuador's Bonita.

"Chiquita had been showing some really good signs of openness, and I wouldn't say that has closed, but I would say definitely everybody who's there now is keeping their mouth shut because they don't know what's going to happen and they want to lay low to see what it's going to look like," Koeppel said.

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