yes we have no bananas

[pynchonoid]

The Banana's Future May be Uncertain
Banana's Days May Be Numbered
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2058060
Traditional Vegetative Propagation
http://heg-school.aw.com/bc/companion/cmr2e/activity/VR/VR17.htm
Genetic Diversity and Food Security
http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_05/uk/doss23.htm
International Network for the Improvement of Banana
and Plantain
http://www.inibap.org/
Global Consortium Announces Plans to Sequence Banana
Genome
http://www.futureharvest.org/news/banana_release.shtml
Banana: Food and Wealth [.pdf]
http://www.inibap.org/publications/inibap-factsheets_eng/food.pdf
Banana Recipes
http://www.pastrywiz.com/archive/category/banana.htm

In the United States, the banana is one of the most
popular fruits in the
average grocery store, and rightly known as a good
source of potassium. In
much of the developing world, such as Latin America
and Africa, the banana
(along with the plantain) constitute some of the most
plentiful and crucial
foodstuffs and are the fourth most important food crop
after rice, wheat,
and corn. In recent years, production levels of both
crops have suffered as
the rapidly spreading fungus "Black Sigatoka" has
taken its toll, often
reducing yields by up to 50 percent. Additionally,
chemical fungicides used
on the crops have harmed the health of plantation
workers and the
environment, adding to an already problematic
situation. In a recent press
release, Emile Frisson, the head of the International
Network for the
Improvement of Banana and Plantain, noted that, "We
may seen the extinction
of the banana as both a lifesaver for hungry and
impoverished Africans and
as the most popular product on the world's supermarket
shelves."

The first link leads to a recent Reuters release about
the difficulties
currently facing the continued success of the banana
and plantain crop
around the world. The second link describes the
propagation process of the
banana, which for the cultivated banana, is
complicated by the fact that it
has no seeds and is sterile. The third link will take
users to a brief
written by Geoffrey Hawtin for the UNESCO Courier on
the importance of
genetic diversity and food security. The fourth link
goes to the home page
of the International Network for the Improvement of
the Banana and Plantain,
which contains a wealth of material about the
importance of bananas and
plantains, particularly to the developing world. The
fifth link is to a 2001
press release from the Future Harvest group announcing
that a global
consortium would begin work on sequencing the banana
genome, in large part
to discover the diversity of bananas that grow and
reproduce in the wild.
The fifth link takes users to a fact sheet published
by the INIBAP
highlighting the importance of bananas to the
nutritional well being of
persons in developing areas. The last link leads to a
page devoted to
recipes that utilize bananas. 


--from:  Internet Scout Report -- January 17, 2003

...enjoy!

-Doug



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