What happened was Panama disease made the Gros Michel variety uneconomical to cultivate, so the global banana industry switched to the Cavendish variety.
12.
This division was closed in the late 1930s as a result of'Panama disease', a blight on the roots of the banana.
13.
The world s first mass-cultivated banana cultivar Gros Michel was lost in the 1920s to Panama disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum.
14.
Cavendish cultivars are resistant to the Panama Disease but in 2013 there were fears that the Black Sigatoka fungus would in turn make Cavendish bananas unviable.
15.
Panama disease is one of the most destructive plant diseases of modern times, and caused the commercial disappearance of the once dominant Gros Michel cultivar.
16.
The banana industry was in a serious crisis, so a new banana thought to be immune to Panama disease was found and adopted, the Cavendish.
17.
Because they were successfully grown in the same soils as previously affected Gros Michel plants, many assumed the Cavendish cultivars were more resistant to Panama disease.
18.
Contrary to this notion, in mid-2008, reports from Sumatra and Malaysia suggest that Panama disease is starting to attack Cavendish-like cultivars.
19.
Panama disease ( Fusarium oxysporum ) is caused by tiny worms which feed on the roots of the plants, block the water vessels and reduce production.
20.
Wornick, who helped come up with a treatment for Panama Disease, was promoted to scientist and later a division president in charge of food processing.
