Are Your Bananas At Risk?

Guest: Norman C. Ellstrand, Distinguished Professor of Genetics, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside Quick quiz – how many varieties of apple can you name? Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Pink Lady are available at the local grocer. But if you had to name a few types of banana. . . . uh, what? Here in the US, there’s only one kind of banana in the supermarket – sweet, yellow, no seeds, about as long as your hand. It’s a variety called Cavendish and it dominates the international banana market. Which turns out to be a big problem.