Many of us already know about worldwide collapse of bee populations, possibly caused by climate change, representing big risk to fertility of all food crops, but looks like we can expect more. “Its insidious, highly transient nature and the fact there is no effective chemical or biological control prompted one banana researcher to describe TR4 as being “worse than Ebola” in the plant world. “At least with Ebola, when everybody in the village has died, the disease is gone. With TR4, this disease never goes away,” he explained to an industry briefing in Mareeba. How did it get here? Did it come from the Northern Territory where an outbreak of TR4 destroyed the banana industry in the late 1990s? What can be done to stop it from spreading to other farms? And what, if any, options are available to growers who find TR4 already on their properties. The stakes could not be higher for Australia’s $600Million banana industry.”

>readmore> ABC RN