Tuesday November 24th 2020 | 20:00 – 21:15| Facebook and YouTube|
More than 100 billion bananas are consumed every year, making it the fourth most important food crop and the most eaten fruit in the world. Despite their importance nearly all banana plants are clones and therefore quite vulnerable to diseases. One of these diseases is Panama disease which is caused by a fungus affecting the root system of banana plants. In the 1950s the then primarily used Gros Michel succumbed to an epidemic of this fungal disease. This was solved at the time by the introduction of the new Cavendish banana which had a natural resistance. However, not only are these bananas more prone to bruising, they have inferior taste and size. To make matters worse, in recent days a new fungal strain has emerged threatening the banana production all over again. Will there be a new epidemic? What will this mean for the future of the banana? And what will be the effect on the major banana-exporting countries?
These questions and more will be discussed during our online lecture with Gert Kema and Luud Clercx. Gert Kema is a Fytopathologist and professor at Wageningen University. Luud Clercx is the project manager at AgroFair, a Tropical Fruit Company producing aimed at importing fairtrade organic bio bananas and other tropical organic fruit.
This talk will be livestreamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel and will be accessible for everyone to watch. You will be able to ask the speakers your questions in the chat! Check out the following links on November 24th at 20:00:
https://www.facebook.com/utrechtsib/
https://www.youtube.com/user/SIBUtrecht/