Originally posted by elindra:
As the Evil King Banana, shouldn't you be out there helping your fellow bananas instead of praying and hope for the best?
No need..muahahaha
From wiki
Most bananas grown worldwide are used for local consumption. In the tropics, bananas, especially cooking bananas, represent a major source of food, as well as a major source of income for smallholder farmers. It is in the East African highlands that bananas reach their greatest importance as a staple food crop. In countries such as Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda per capita consumption has been estimated at 450kg per year, the highest in the world. Ugandans use the same word "matooke" to describe both banana and food.
In the past, the banana was a highly sustainable crop with a long plantation life and stable yields year round. However with the arrival of the Black Sigatoka fungus, banana production in eastern Africa has fallen by over 40%. For example during the 1970s, Uganda produced 15 to 20 tonnes of bananas per ha. Today production has fallen to only 6 tonnes per ha.
The situation has started to improve as new disease resistant varieties have been developed such as the FHIA-17 (known in Uganda as the Kabana 3). These new varieties taste different from the traditionally grown banana which has slowed their acceptance by local farmers. However, by adding mulch and animal manure to the soil around the base of the banana plant, these new varieties have substantially increased yields in the areas where they have been tried.
The Rockefeller Foundation has started trials for genetically modified banana plants that are resistant to both Black Sigatoka, and banana weevils. It is developing varieties specifically for smallholder or subsistence farmers.