Moisés Pulido, which pushes the flaps of the banana leaves, passes through a dusty soil layer covering its plantation on the La Palma coast. Under the blind sun, banana groups can be seen under the tree hills located with lime green bundles.
At the end of 2021, when the Cumbre Vieja volcano exploded on the western edge of this island in the Atlantic Ocean, he buried 300 hectares (about 740 acres) in the ashes and destroyed 200 more, and farmers like Mr. Pulido could not imagine that volcano did any good.
However, the baybre view explosion can keep some answers to keeping bananas applicable not only here but elsewhere.
Why did we write this
Cavendish Banana, the most popular type in the world, is under the threat of a mushroom that destroys other varieties. However, the island of Tenerife may only have conditions to protect them.
A mushroom behind the situation known as Fusarium Wilt or Panama disease threatens worldwide bananas. Some say that mushrooms that block the water and nutrients through their roots can cause a lineage of popular cavendish banana.
However, unlike the tropical fields of India and China, where most of the world bananas were produced, the subtropical climate of the Canary Islands – and especially the west coast of La Palma – provided a way of resistance against wilt.
Indeed, the volcanic ash that farmers once lamented after the explosion of Cumbre Vieja contains vital foods that protect the plant and may be the key to survival of bananas.
“Tropical products such as bananas grow slower and are less productive [here] More than tropical places, Spanish says, San Cristóbal de la Laguna University of La Laguna University Agriculture and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Antonio Marrero.
Volcano gift
This is not under the existential threat of banana farming Panama disease for the first time. In the 1950s, the banana wilt was swept from the plantation of the dominant Gros Michel Banana at that time, and directly led the diversity to disappear.
The market soon returned to Cavendish banana due to his resistance to wilt. However, the new variants of the mushrooms have emerged, some of them are potentially threatening to Cavendish as well as the original wilt to Gros Michel. Although mushrooms have been found in some high altitude and humid areas of the Canary Islands, this variant is not the most harmful type.
When farmers find pale, they use discreet measures such as collection of soils. However, after Volcano, farmers such as Mr. Pulido called “virgin earth” would be difficult for the mushroom to survive.
“Every time there is a lava flow, time is reset to zero,” he says. The life of banana plants “starts again”.
Some of this logic is clear. However, mushrooms can live under the soil for 20 years. And most of the bananas in the world – including La Palma – Monocropies. This means that they are farming in large, special plantations that do not grow anything else. And all bananas are genetic copies of each other, which makes them easier to produce, but makes them vulnerable to pathogens. When Wilt arrives, it can spread in a vicious way.
Dr. According to Marrero, volcanic explosions not only kill mushrooms, but also filled the volcanic ash soil with foods such as iron and zinc, and reduced the incidence of banana wilt. Volcanic soil is rich in potassium, where bananas relieve greatly to growth.
However, like most other crops, bananas cannot be grown directly in volcanic soil. It takes decades for the separation process to devote the hardened lava to the productive world. Instead, local farmers should finely crush lava and use it as a substrate before pouring fresh organic matter from the top areas – an application they have been doing for more than a century.
“Otherwise, Mr says Mr. Notario del Pino,” They just have to wait. “
Monocroping Risks
Farmers such as Fran Garlaz say that even with the resistant land and climate of the Canary Islands, the potential risks that come with monocroping are greater than any disease.
Ecofinca at Platanológico– Mr. Garlaz, an organic farm in the coastal town Porto Naos, gives visitors information about the benefits of biological diversity. It grows bananas at one end of the site. The other is dedicated to a miniature forest of vine grapes and lush plant life. Approximately 200 products are growing here.
“Biodiversity is fundamental, Mr. Mr. Garlaz says, taking a long knife from a situation in his hip and taking a quarter -sized clipping from the base of a banana tree. Banana trees die when they fruit. He sews the clipping next to an existing tree and says that a new tree will grow. “Monocroping is not logical or sustainable.”
But Mr. Garlaz is a contrary. Despite the efforts of small -scale farmers to diversify plants, almost half of La Palma is covered with banana fields.
Nevertheless, if the Cumbre Vieja volcano deleted approximately 40% of the banana production of La Palma, and the threat of the wilt is never unpleasant, the farmers here say that Monocroping is not a point of discussion. In La Palma, Banana Farming offers 10,000 jobs to 85,000 inhabitants of the island. Since the volcanic explosion, most farmers here are only trying to go back to their feet.
Mr. Pulido said he always planned to rebuild the farm he lost in 2021. In the coming days, workers from the local cooperative plan to reduce the first banana party that has grown since Cumbre Vieja destroyed its farm. He says he won’t go on the road to the volcano or mushrooms.
Im I never thought of stopping, Mr says Mr. Pulido. “This is not for our children, but also in honor of our parents and grandfathers. This is a matter of personal pride.”
