Local administrations in Haikou have opened ports to facilitate banana business and avoid more losses, after news that “banana cancer” swept most parts of China. As the rumor of the “Panama Disease” outbreak in banana plantations gradually quiets down, the local government has decided to give a 300-yuan subsidy [USD 37.5] for each banana truckload in an attempt to boost fruit sales and reduce losses suffered by local banana planters. An agricultural expert says rumors saying “bananas cause cancer,” which have spread widely on the Internet, are absolutely groundless. Research fellow Chen Miancai of the Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences clarified that a banana plant infected by disease cannot bear fruit. Even it does, the fruit will not meet sales standards. Bananas currently on sale are absolutely safe for human consumption. The rumors began after Panama disease ravaged the country’s main Chinese banana-growing areas, especially in Guangdong province. It has greatly affected the banana industry on the southern Chinese island province of Hainan, according to Xinhua News Agency. Bananas in Hainan have ripened since the end of March 2007. However, fewer dealers are coming to purchase the fruit. Prices have also sharply dropped from 3 yuan to 0.2 to 0.4 yuan per kilogram. Millions of banana plants in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, are being wiped out by Panama disease, the Beijing News has reported. The disease is encroaching on Guangdong’s banana plantations by an annual increase of 20 percent. So far, 3333 hectares — 38.5 percent of the total 8667 hectares — of banana farms in Guangzhou have been affected by the epidemic. “The city’s major banana production bases, including Fanyu, Zhongshan and Nansha, are all infected. Millions of banana plants have died, and unfortunately we have found no cure for the disease,” said Liu Shaoqin, a researcher with Guangzhou’s Academy of Agricultural Science. In the early stages of infection, about 5 percent of the banana plants on a farm will perish. A year later, 20 percent will be infected and die. In the 3rd year, the percentage of infection will soar to 50 percent, and the whole farm will be destroyed in just 4 years, according to Liu.”The disease is the cancer of the plant community,” he said.
Read the rest of this article; Panama Banana Blight Harmless to Humans