The race to save banana

Fusarium wilt of banana caused by the soil borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense was first recorded in Australia in 1874, but its spread to Panama in 1890 was the start of the first global epidemic. The disease affected a susceptible variety dominant at the time, Gros Michel. By the 1950s Gros Michel was replaced by a variety resistant to the disease: the Cavendish banana. A silver bullet solution was rapidly adopted around the world. Then in 1967 symptoms of Fusarium wilt appeared on Cavendish in Taiwan. Tropical Race 4, the race that affects Cavendish in any environment, was named in the 1990s. In 2019 it appeared in Colombia, establishing it in every banana-growing region globally. This is a race the disease is winning in turtle-like fashion. Despite this, banana remains an important export and also provides nutrition and livelihood benefits to growers and communities around the tropics. What can we learn from our biosecurity responses to races 1 and 4 to provide a competitive advantage against any future race? Both technical and behavioural strategies are necessary, to be prepared for inevitable change. Solutions must offer hope to growers and smallholders that production can be maintained despite the presence of the disease as the return to business as usual becomes a distant dream.