Bananas are one of the world’s most important food crops. They are also one of the most valuable exports. Bananas do not grow from seeds. Instead, they grow from existing plants. Bananas are threatened by disease because all the plants on a farm are copies of each other. They all share the same genetic weaknesses. For example, the Cavendish banana is most popular in North American and European markets. However, some kinds of fungus organisms easily infect the Cavendish. Black Sigatoka disease affects the leaves of Cavendish banana plants. The disease is controlled on large farms by putting chemicals on the plants’ leaves. Farmers put anti-fungal chemicals on their crops up to once a week.
Another fungal disease is more serious. Panama disease attacks the roots of the banana plants. There is no chemical treatment for this disease. Infected plants must be destroyed. Panama disease has affected crops in Southeast Asia, Australia and South Africa. There is concern that it may spread to bananas grown in the Americas. This could threaten an important export product for Central and South America.
The International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain supports research on bananas. The group has headquarters in France and other offices in the major banana-growing areas of the world. The group says that more research must be done to develop improved kinds of bananas. The group says that fungal diseases mainly affect only one kind of banana. In fact, there are five hundred different kinds of bananas. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has said that the Cavendish banana represents only 10% of world production.
The U. N. agency says farmers should grow different kinds of bananas. This protects against diseases that affect only one kind. Experts warn that disease may cause the Cavendish banana to disappear. This happened earlier to another popular banana because of its genetic weakness against disease.
小题1:What does this passage mainly tell us?
A．Bananas are the world’s most important food crops.
B．The risk to a popular banana shows need to grow other kinds.
C．There are five hundred different kinds of bananas.
D．How to grow bananas in different countries.小题2:Bananas are threatened by disease because .
A．they grow from seeds
B．they are one of the most valuable exports
C．the only way to prevent it is to put chemicals on their leaves
D．they have genetic weaknesses against disease小题3: Panama disease .
A．doesn’t belong to fungal disease
B．affects the leaves of banana plants
C．destroys bananas more seriously than Black Sigatoka disease
D．has spread to bananas all over the world小题4: We can infer from Paragraph 3 that .
A．the center of the group is in the US
B．the Cavendish banana covers only a small part of the yield of bananas
C．the key to solving the disease is to research all kinds of bananas
D．each fungal disease affects five hundred different kinds of bananas
