The Panama disease, a type one fungus, ended with more than 170 hectares of banana from the Gros Michel variety in the last ten years in the district of Chocope in the region of La Libertad.
The Gros Michel variety was the most exported and traded variety at the national level in the sixties because it had the best texture and flavour. However, according to Juan Carlos Rojas, banana specialist at the INIA, this variety started to disappear with the arrival of the fungus and now it can only be found in Chocope.
"This variety is known for its good flavour, aroma and texture which differentiates it from the rest, even from the Cavendish variety, which is currently the most widely produced one in Peru and it is resistant to the pathogen. Before, the fungus was only in the jungle, but now it has come up north," noted Rojas.
Sergio Prettell, alderman of the municipality of Chocope, said the district currently has 30 hectares of this banana. Ten years ago, there were over 200 acres dedicated to this variety.
"Producers lose 80% of their crops to this fungus. Therefore, farmers are changing their crops for vegetables like asparagus or for sugar cane. So we risk losing a flagship product in our region," he said.
Rojas advised the producers of organic bananas to beware of any outbreak and to follow strict control of this pest. He also stated that the INIA would research better patterns and organic banana varieties resistant to the new strand of Panama disease, which has already devastated crops in Asia and Africa.