New breeding hope for Cavendish bananas
Have scientists finally found a way to save the banana from disaster?
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Photo by Geio Tischler on Unsplash
Warm-up
- What fruit do you buy most often? Why?
- Have you ever tried a banana variety that was different?
- How do diseases or weather affect food where you live?
Vocabulary
- fertile
- Able to produce seeds or offspring; can reproduce successfully.
- collaboration
- People or groups working together on a shared project.
- breed
- To produce new plants or animals by choosing parents to mix qualities.
- resistant
- Able to stop or fight a problem like a disease.
- disease
- An illness that harms a plant, animal, or person.
- exporter
- A country or company that sells goods to other countries.
- approve
- To officially say yes to something.
- genome
- All the genetic material in a plant or animal.
Reading
Listen to this story
British EnglishBananas are one of the world’s favourite fruits, but climate change and new diseases put them at risk. Researchers say progress in breeding may protect future crops.
Yelloway, a collaboration between Chiquita and KeyGene, says it has developed a fully fertile Cavendish banana. This could allow cross‑breeding to create new, resistant varieties. The world grows about 139m tonnes of bananas each year. Cavendish became dominant after the Gros Michel cultivar was devastated by Panama disease in the 1950s.
Now a dangerous strain, Tropical Race 4 (TR4), has spread from south‑east Asia to Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. In December 2025 Ecuador, the largest exporter, confirmed TR4, threatening supplies and a staple food in the tropics.
Teams are testing other routes. At Queensland University of Technology, Prof James Dale’s group made a GM Cavendish called QCAV‑4, approved in Australia and New Zealand. Dr Jose De Vega at the Earlham Institute is exploring gene‑editing of the Cavendish genome using immune genes from other cultivars. Because plantations are cloned, one disease can hit many farms at once.
Comprehension
- What did Yelloway announce about the Cavendish banana?
- Which disease strain is threatening Cavendish bananas worldwide?
- Which country reported TR4 in December 2025 and is the largest exporter?
- What is the name of the GM Cavendish approved in Australia and New Zealand?
- What method is Dr Jose De Vega exploring to help Cavendish bananas?
Grammar focus
Second conditional
Use it for unreal or unlikely situations now or in the future. Form: If + past simple, would + base verb. (Examples constructed.)
- If TR4 spread to more regions, supplies would fall.
- If breeders found a resistant gene, prices would stay stable.
Grammar exercise
Complete each sentence using "would".
- If TR4 hit more farms, exporters (raise) ___ alarms.
- If plantations were diverse, disease (not/spread) ___ so fast.
- If Yelloway shared seeds, breeders (test) ___ new crosses.
- If QCAV‑4 won approval worldwide, farmers (plant) ___ it widely.
- If supplies fell, shoppers (choose) ___ other fruits.
Discussion
- Would you eat a GM banana? Why or why not?
- How could climate change change food in your country?
- Is relying on one crop variety a big risk? Explain.
- What should scientists and companies do first to protect bananas?
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