Fertile Cavendish banana may open path to disease-resistant varieties

Ekonominin Sesi - International (English) · Oct 22, 2026 · 1m

Scientists say a newly developed, fully fertile Cavendish banana may offer a path toward breeding new varieties. This line, named Yellowdish, was developed by Yelloway, a research partnership between Chiquita and crop-improvement firm KeyGene, using non-GM techniques. Cavendish bananas are generally sterile, so new plants are typically grown from offshoots and are almost genetically identical. This lack of genetic diversity makes them susceptible to the same diseases. The Cavendish is at risk from diseases such as Tropical Race 4, a strain of Panama disease that has spread across multiple…