4 ms·

This is clickbait. Bananas as a species are doing just fine, it's the Cavendish cultivar that is in danger due to being a monoculture, just like the Gros Michel

This is clickbait. Bananas as a species are doing just fine, it's the Cavendish cultivar that is in danger due to being a monoculture, just like the Gros Michel was when most of its groves got wiped out. Some other SE Asian banana will just end up taking its place if and when the Cavendish gets taken out as a result of monoculture, and quite frankly many of those varieties are vastly superior to the Cavendish anyway.

gutnor 8y ago
Also clickbait, the demise of the Cavendish is a yearly article with basically the same content published every years. This one seems to be prompted by the recent rejection of a GMO solution. This is the banana equivalent of publishing "The Car is dying, the race to save personal transportation is on" as a result of VW emission scandal.
xapata 8y ago
If they're superior, why haven't they already replaced the Cavendish?
- SpikeDad 8y ago
  Depends who is interested. For consumers who like tasty bananas there are plenty that are superior. For growers and distributers who only care about whether a variety grows cheaply and ships in good condition then they're gonna be upset.
- kirkules 8y ago
  Why isn't anyone but Donald Trump the President of the United States?
  - xapata 8y ago
    Repeated sampling of US presidents has rarely resulted in Donald Trump. We've had 44 others. On the other hand, looking over the history of elected leaders around the world, demagogues like Trump are not infrequent. Contrasting with the Cavendish banana, what proportion of bananas sold are Cavendish? The vast majority, I've been told.
- deadmetheny 8y ago
  They were widely adopted after the Gros Michel fell to Panama disease due to their perceived resistance to the disease and the fact that they travel and keep very well compared to other cultivars. A lot of consumers don't even know that other banana cultivars even exist.
  - xapata 8y ago
    But the growers know and the retailers know. If they thought a change would be profitable, they would have. It's likely that the disappearance of the Cavendish will be very disruptive .
dwc 8y ago
I grow blue java bananas in my yard. Rajapuri bananas are fairly popular around here.
- xmichael999 8y ago
  Where is, 'around here' ?
  - dwc 8y ago
    Phoenix AZ area.
qubax 8y ago
Not only is it clickbait, it's rehashed clickbait. The demise of the cavendish banana has been repeated for many years now.
beerlord 8y ago
Eventually we will learn, and practice, that growing a single crop in gigantic monocultures like this is a bad idea. At what point do we run out of other varieties of crops to take genes from? I think the sustainable end point are genetically engineered yeasts grown in sterile indoor pools that takes in sunlight, growth medium and minerals to product some kind of nutritionally complete Soylent for humans to eat.
tropo 8y ago
Something different is sometimes sold now, and it is a poor substitute. Walmart seems to like selling it. Maybe you can identify it. The visible difference is that it never becomes pure yellow. Little brown spots show up while the banana is still somewhat green. The old bananas would be OK when pure yellow, wonderful with a sprinkling of small brown spots, and OK with lots of brown spots. The weird unripe flavor (sort of cucumber-like but hard to describe) goes away and the bananas become sweet, and then slowly they get mushy. The new bananas don't ever get as sweet, don't ever lose that unripe flavor, and become mushy while still having a hint of green.

gutnor 8y ago

Also clickbait, the demise of the Cavendish is a yearly article with basically the same content published every years. This one seems to be prompted by the recent rejection of a GMO solution. This is the banana equivalent of publishing "The Car is dying, the race to save personal transportation is on" as a result of VW emission scandal.

xapata 8y ago

If they're superior, why haven't they already replaced the Cavendish?

SpikeDad 8y ago
Depends who is interested. For consumers who like tasty bananas there are plenty that are superior. For growers and distributers who only care about whether a variety grows cheaply and ships in good condition then they're gonna be upset.
kirkules 8y ago
Why isn't anyone but Donald Trump the President of the United States?
- xapata 8y ago
  Repeated sampling of US presidents has rarely resulted in Donald Trump. We've had 44 others. On the other hand, looking over the history of elected leaders around the world, demagogues like Trump are not infrequent. Contrasting with the Cavendish banana, what proportion of bananas sold are Cavendish? The vast majority, I've been told.
deadmetheny 8y ago
They were widely adopted after the Gros Michel fell to Panama disease due to their perceived resistance to the disease and the fact that they travel and keep very well compared to other cultivars. A lot of consumers don't even know that other banana cultivars even exist.
- xapata 8y ago
  But the growers know and the retailers know. If they thought a change would be profitable, they would have. It's likely that the disappearance of the Cavendish will be very disruptive .

dwc 8y ago

I grow blue java bananas in my yard. Rajapuri bananas are fairly popular around here.

xmichael999 8y ago
Where is, 'around here' ?
- dwc 8y ago
  Phoenix AZ area.

qubax 8y ago

Not only is it clickbait, it's rehashed clickbait. The demise of the cavendish banana has been repeated for many years now.

beerlord 8y ago

Eventually we will learn, and practice, that growing a single crop in gigantic monocultures like this is a bad idea. At what point do we run out of other varieties of crops to take genes from? I think the sustainable end point are genetically engineered yeasts grown in sterile indoor pools that takes in sunlight, growth medium and minerals to product some kind of nutritionally complete Soylent for humans to eat.

tropo 8y ago

Something different is sometimes sold now, and it is a poor substitute. Walmart seems to like selling it. Maybe you can identify it. The visible difference is that it never becomes pure yellow. Little brown spots show up while the banana is still somewhat green. The old bananas would be OK when pure yellow, wonderful with a sprinkling of small brown spots, and OK with lots of brown spots. The weird unripe flavor (sort of cucumber-like but hard to describe) goes away and the bananas become sweet, and then slowly they get mushy. The new bananas don't ever get as sweet, don't ever lose that unripe flavor, and become mushy while still having a hint of green.