Plant plagues - agricultural caused..,

[Auburn Boy]

Vanilla is being decimated in Madagascar.

Expect prices to rise accordingly.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463351,00.html

Deadly, Incurable Fungus Spreading in Madagascar
Monday, December 08, 2008

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — A deadly and incurable crop disease has spread widely in Madagascar's main vanilla-producing area, farming officials said.

In a report released Monday, assessment teams said the world's main vanilla producer has to radically change farming methods to fight the fungus attacking plants at the root.

Malagasy agronomic research chief Simeon Rakotomamonjy said the situation is "critical." He said the disease has hit 80 percent of plantations around Sambava and Andapa, two of three main centers of vanilla production on the Indian Ocean island's northeast coast.

Most of Madagascar's vanilla is exported to the United States, where it is used for making confectionary, soft drinks and ice cream.

[flourbug]

eeek! No!

Tell me it isn't so. A future with no more bananas, no more oranges, no more vanilla beans?! It is TEOTWAKI for desserts.

[clutterbug]

No vanilla? say it ain't so!

:panic: :panic: :panic:

[theoryman]

I'm stocking up now...

[Ben Franklin]

eeek! No!

Tell me it isn't so. A future with no more bananas, no more oranges, no more vanilla beans?! It is TEOTWAKI for desserts.I knew about the bananas, but oranges too?!

Actually I can live without oranges, but a banana and vanilla apocalypse will be a much harder cross to bear.

[Kassy]

eeek! No!

Tell me it isn't so. A future with no more bananas, no more oranges, no more vanilla beans?! It is TEOTWAKI for desserts.

You forgot to mention the fungus that kills chocolate (http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:263481396181560::NO::F2400_P1001_BAC K_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,73015). :eek:

[flourbug]

Kassy, you're right! No more banana splits, no more creamcicles. :dramaqueen:

[Sysiphus]

Not to politicize things or sound all tinfoil hattish, but do people think this has anything to do with recent rumors that Madagascar is considering backing out of a deal to lease 1 million ha of land to Daewoo, South Korea for 99 years? Apparently, the FAO has been twisting Madagascar's arms on the grounds the lease sets a bad neo-colonial precedent. This sure would drive Madagascar into Daewoo's loving arms.

[Kassy]

Not to politicize things or sound all tinfoil hattish, but do people think this has anything to do with recent rumors that Madagascar is considering backing out of a deal to lease 1 million ha of land to Daewoo, South Korea for 99 years? Apparently, the FAO has been twisting Madagascar's arms on the grounds the lease sets a bad neo-colonial precedent. This sure would drive Madagascar into Daewoo's loving arms.

Too much conspiracy for me.

These things happen:




Government scientists said the disease is carried by an underground fungus.
It has hit 80 per cent of plantations around Sambava and Andapa, but
surveys in the more isolated Antalaha region so far reveal only a trace of
the fungus.

Fungus spores attack a vanilla plant at the root, and a black rot spreads
upward, often killing pods before they reach maturity. The disease is known
for the moment only by its local name, bekorontsana, which means "falls to
the ground often," said plant specialist Alain Paul Andrianaivo.

Researchers propose a wholesale replanting of disease-prone species with a
vanilla hybrid that, laboratory tests suggest, is fungus-resistant. If new
plants are the answer, the government will have to help, said a farmer in
the affected region. Monday's report did not address how fighting the
disease would be funded.

High prices on the world vanilla market contributed to a surge in
unregulated planting 10 years ago, researchers say. The result has been
fields of plants set too close together, helping the disease spread rapidly
now.



http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:2636787903784334::NO::F2400_P1001_BA CK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,75105



Some friday trivia:


communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Susan Baekeland

[_Vanilla_ is a genus of climbing terrestrial tropical orchids. Commercial
vanilla is derived from its processed beans and is the second most
expensive spice after saffron. In Madagascar _V. planifolia_ (Bourbon
vanilla) is grown while other species such as _V. tahitensis_ and _V.
pompona_ are cultivated in different regions.

Vanilla is susceptible to many fungal rots affecting various plant parts.
In Madagascar, fungal or fungus-like pathogens in the genera _Phytophthora_
and _Fusarium_ have been reported previously to be associated with vanilla
root rots. These include, for example, _P. jatrophae_, which also affects
the jatropha trees used as support for the vanilla vines, and _F.
oxysporum_ f.sp. _vanillae_. It is not clear whether these may be the
pathogens referred to above.