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A disease trail

Race 1, then Tropical Race 4

Panama disease is the popular name for Fusarium wilt of banana. The trail has more than one race, and they should not be told as a single event.

Gros Michel, FAO writes, used to dominate global exports until the 1950s, when widespread epidemics of Fusarium Race 1 (Foc R1) eliminated it from large-scale commercial production and the Cavendish subgroup became the new industry standard. [FAO] The Bluefields group, which includes ‘Bluefields’ and ‘Dwarf Bluefields’, was the leading commercial variety in Hawai‘i, and now accounts for less than 1% of banana production there because of its susceptibility to Panama wilt disease. [CTAHR]

FAO identifies the latest race causing banana Fusarium wilt in Cavendish cultivars, and many others, as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), also known as Tropical race 4 (TR4). [FAO] FAO’s TR4 guidelines say the disease is caused by a fungus that lives in the soil, causes wilting and death of plants, and penetrates and blocks the vascular system, cutting off the supply of water and nutrients. [FAO] The same guidelines say TR4 infects most banana and plantain varieties including the Cavendish, which provides around 50 percent of global banana production. [FAO]

TR4 was first detected in Asia over 40 years ago, arrived in Africa in 2013, and reached Latin America in 2019, according to FAO. [FAO] The spores of the fungus, FAO notes, could survive in the soil for decades. [FAO]