Putting the backstage flaps with a yellowed banana leaves, Moisés Pulido exits through a layer of dusty soil covering its plantation on the coast of La Palma. Under the dazzling sun, the batch of bananas is almost visible under the trees, located together in elegant green bundles.
At the end of 2021, when the Kambr Veya volcano erupted on the western edge of this island in the Atlantic Ocean, having buried 300 hectares (about 740 acres) of banana trees in ashes and destroying another 200, farmers, such as Mr. Pulido, could not imagine that volcano provides them with some kind of approval.
But the eruption of Cumbre Vieja can actually keep some answers to maintain the viability of bananas in the future not only here, but also in other places.
Why did we write this
Cavendish Banks, the most popular type in the world, are threatened from the mushroom, which destroyed other varieties. But the island of La Palma can only have conditions to protect them.
The mushroom, standing behind a state known as Fusarium Wilt – or Panama disease – threatens bananas around the world. Some say that the mushroom that blocks the flow of water and nutrients on the plant through its roots can lead to the extinction of the popular Cavendish banana.
But unlike tropical regions, such as parts of India and China, where most world bananas are produced, the subtropical climate of the Canary Islands – and, in particular, the western coast of La Palma – provided the path of resistance to wilting.
Indeed, the volcanic ash, which farmers once lamented after the eruption of Kumbra Vei, contains vital nutrients that protect the plant – and can be the key to the survival of bananas.
“Tropical crops, such as bananas, grow slower and less productive [here] than in tropical places, ”says Antonio Marrero, associate professor of agricultural and environmental engineering at the University of La Lagun in the rank of chandobal -e -la Laguna, Spain. “But in exchange, many of the diseases of tropical places are absent in the Canary Islands.”
A gift of a volcano
This is not the first time when banana agriculture is under the existential threat from Panama disease. In the 1950s, banana fades the intermediate through the plantation of the then dominant banana Gros Michelle, leading to diversity until the disappearance.
Soon the market turned into a banana -cavendish from his resistance to a wilter. But new mushroom variants appeared, some of which are as potentially threatening the Cavendish, like the original bite for Gros Michelle. Although the mushroom was discovered in some high -altitude, wet areas of the Canary Islands, this option is not the most destructive type.
When farmers are wilted, they use common sense measures, such as digging infected soil. But the post-wort, on the fact that farmers, such as Mr. Pulido, are called “virgin soil”, it would be difficult to survive the fungus.
“Every time there is a stream of lava, time is dumped to zero,” says Hesus S. Notario del Pino, professor of soil science and geology at the University of La Laguna. The life of banana plants “begins again.”
Part of this logic is obvious. But the mushroom can live for 20 years underground. And most world bananas – La Palma – these are monocrats. This means that they grow on massive, dedicated plantations that do not grow anything else. And all bananas are genetic copies of each other, which facilitates their production, but vulnerable to pathogens. When the Wavy comes, it can spread viciously.
According to Dr. Marro, the volcanic eruptions not only kill the mushroom, but also the volcanic ash from eruption in volcanic ash, such as iron and zinc, and reduced the frequency of banana wilting, according to Dr. Marrero. Vulcanic soil is also rich in potassium, on which bananas are very relied in height.
However, like most other cultures, bananas cannot be grown directly on volcanic grounds. For the process of weathering, it takes decades to break the hardened lava into fertile land. Instead, local farmers should finely crush the lava and use it as a substrate before pouring fresh organic substances from other areas above the top – a practice that they have been engaged in more than a century.
“Otherwise,” says Mr. Notario del Pino, “they just need to wait.”
The risk of monocropy
Farmers such as Fran Garlaz say that even with stable soil and climate of the Canary Islands, potential risks that come with a monocropilitation, more than any one disease.
In the ecofinca plateIN An organic farm in the coastal city of Puerto -Naos, Mr. Harlaz teaches visitors about the advantages of biodiversity. At one end of the site, he grows bananas. Another miniature jungle of hanging grape vines and lush plants is devoted to experiments. About 200 crops are growing here.
“The biodiversity is fundamental,” says Mr. Garlaz, pulling a knife on a foot in his thigh and takes a quarter the size of a banana tree. As soon as banana trees bear fruit, they die. According to him, having planted the cut -off next to the existing tree, a new one will appear. “Monocropy is not logical or stable.”
But Mr. Garlaz is an emission. Despite the efforts of small farmers in diversification of agricultural crops, almost half of the cultivated land of the LA Palma is covered with banana plantations.
Nevertheless, even if the Cumbre Vieja volcano wiped almost 40% of the production of La Palma banana, and the threat of linking never fails, farmers here say that monocropping is not a discussion point. On La Palma, banana agriculture provides 10,000 jobs for 85,000 residents of the island. After the volcanic eruption, most farmers are just trying to get to their feet here.
Mr. Pulido says that he always planned to restore the farm, which he lost in 2021. In the coming days, workers from his local cooperative plan to reduce the first batch of bananas, which has grown since Kambra Veya destroyed its farm. He says that neither volcano nor mushroom interfere with him.
“I never thought about a stop,” says Mr. Pulido. “This is for our children, but also in honor of our parents, grandparents. This is a matter of personal pride. ”
Editor note: a story that was originally published in March. 28, 2025 was updated to clarify how much land on La Palm is dedicated to banana plantations.
