Disease-Resistant Bananas Coming Soon to a Store Near You
Partnership Set to Develop New Variety of TR4 Resistant Bananas.
Fresh Del Monte Produce and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) of Brisbane, Australia, are partnering on a project to develop disease-resistant bananas. One goal of the partnership is to utilize breakthroughs in plant trait developments to cultivate bananas that are resistant to crop-threatening diseases, specifically Tropical Race 4 (TR4), a fungus that has plagued banana crops for decades, spreading faster over the last decade and potentially impacting the future availability of bananas for consumers.
Fresh Del Monte seeks to further improve many of the challenges faced by—and contribute to the long-term sustainability of—the produce industry, particularly with managing catastrophic disease. Their investment in this partnership openly funds scientific research to address this threat against farmers, their livelihoods, and the entire supply chain.