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Originally Posted by CCraves
Are large commercial farms possible without resorting to mono cropping? Could allowing for more diverse production help stop the spread of the Panama Wilt on farms, or at least slow it down?
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Yes, it's possible, but not at the same extremely and somewhat artificially cheap price they are at now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CCraves
Like I asked in a former response, what will happen if banana plantations become largely susceptible to BBTV? Is there another banana species that could be looked at to replace the market of mass consumption or is it less likely that the disease will have such a large economic impact?
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The Cavendish export farms in Latin America are very susceptible to BBTV, but there is no BBTV present. There really is no 100% BBTV resistant commercial-quality cultivar discovered or bred yet, but it can be controlled well through stringent management techniques. However, if it is introduced at some point somehow to anywhere in Latin America, it will certainly cause a lot of havoc for awhile before it gets under control.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CCraves
Sorry, I'm definitely a newb when it comes to agriculture and botany. I might have stated it incorrectly. I had read that cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. I also read on farms that they have people rubbing parts of the plant together to I believe create new seeds to grow future crops (though I might be wrong).
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They are parthenocarpic, and have some (highly varying) degree of sterility, but the parthenocarpy and sterility are not really directly related. A sterile fruit without parthenocarpy is nothing but a pinky-sized bit of skin (no pulp or seed), but a parthenocarpic fruit will be full of pulp regardless of sterility level, it may or may not then also have seed present depending on how fertile it is and if it was pollinated with fertile pollen.
I think the article you must have read was describing the process of banana breeding to create entirely new varieties. The seeds from those fruits are only grown once to get a new plant, if it's a good one, then it is propagated asexually to make plants for fruit production.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CCraves
Thanks for being nice about my error, and responding to my question with such illumination!  |
