banana Industry Braces for Impact as Devastating TR4 disease Reaches Ecuador
Guayaquil, Ecuador - A highly contagious fungal disease, Tropical Race 4 (TR4), has been detected in Ecuador, the world’s leading exporter of bananas, sparking concerns about global supply and prices of the popular fruit. the outbreak, confirmed recently, threatens banana plantations across the country and raises the specter of widespread crop abandonment similar to what has occurred in other affected regions.
Ecuador supplies between 6 and 7 million tonnes of bananas annually - equivalent to the entire consumption of the 27 European Union countries and the United Kingdom combined. while immediate global supply isn’t expected to be drastically impacted, experts warn that increased biosecurity measures will drive up production costs, potentially leading to higher prices for consumers.
TR4, also known as black sigatoka, first appeared in Peru in 2021 and has since spread.Effective containment requires stringent protocols, according to Denis Loeillet, an economist at the Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Progress (Cirad). “It involves the installation of fences around the affected areas, the disinfection of everything that enters and comes out of plantations, be it the shovels, the shoes or the wheels of the agricultural vehicles,” Loeillet explained.
Despite efforts in Colombia and the philippines to manage the disease, the arrival of TR4 in Ecuador is considered a critical turning point for the banana industry. The current crisis highlights the vulnerability of the cavendish banana, which has dominated the global market as the 1960s.
In response,initiatives like Cirad’s Bana+ project – a €7.5 million undertaking based in France – are focused on developing banana varieties resistant to both black circosporosis and TR4. The project aims to offer viable alternatives to the increasingly threatened cavendish. Twenty-five producing countries have already been affected by the disease, underscoring the urgent need for diversification and disease-resistant solutions.
