Have you considered tracking down the parent fertile species of domestic seedless bananas and repeating the hybridisation to produce new strains? Could be a path to developing hardier locally adapted plantain strains in the future.
That would indeed be a worthwhile undertaking, but currently we're lacking both the space and the time for experiments of that sort. We will need a few more people and, more importantly, MORE LAND for things like this. 3+ acres is okay for subsistence, but not much more than that.
Our pisang awak is by far the most productive variety in our conditons. Do you have the seeded pisang awak? It is even more vigorous than pisang awak. The seeds are many and about the size of mung beans. I steam them and the seeds separates from the flesh cleanly in my mouth.
I have a sabar that just started growing, called pisang nipah or abu here. Seems big and strong.
Pisang kapas is quite ok too, and is the choice banana here to cook as a starchy vegetable. It tastes like the wild bananas here with big seeds.
Pisang asam (sour) is also quite vigorous and nice as a dessert banana.
I think these are the four that are common in the past in my region before chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation.
We have both the seeded and seedless Pisang Awak, but from what we can tell there's not a huge difference between the two kinds - they both succumb to the mystery fungus. We have two additional named sub-cultivars as well, but so far it seems none of them is resistant.
Let's hope this will not be a constant issue! Sometimes they'll pull through, so it might be a temporary thing that the banana plant can fight successfully in some cases. And since it is possible to replant shoots from an infected pile without them necessarily transferring the disease as well, it seems like putting in more work will be a viable response.
On our last project we grew over 30 different cultivars, but here only about 20 survived, and not all of them thrive... One reason surely was that we first arrived here at the beginning of dry season - the least ideal time to plant bananas. Many didn't make it.
That being said, the only banana we still really struggle to grow is the damn Cavendish. We just got our first nice bunch, after six years!
Yes, do keep us updated on the disease. Hopefully it is just a phase and the system grows more resilient to it, like after a sickness in us.
We have a cavendish here but it doesnt turn yellow when ripe, called pisang embun hijau (green dew banana). It has only fruited once or twice at our place after so many years. Tastes like cavendish but I think nicer because it ripened on the tree. Funnily my friend's orang asli workers refuse to eat it because it is not a banana they grew up eating.
re: revolution, I recently watched a YouTube video of Daniel Zetah (American regenerative farmer) where he says that our dependence on the modern food system keeps up unable to turn against it
It's incredible what people endure.
I'm sure the US's agriculture/environmental reporting will turn into a farce soon...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on all the things
Oh yeah, I know Daniel, and he's aware of our project as well. Smart dude! He surely got a good point here, in alignment with what Derrick Jensen wrote some years ago:
"If your experience is that your food comes from the grocery store and your water comes from a tap, you will defend to the death the system that brought those to you, because your life depends on it. If, on the other hand, your food comes from a landbase and your water comes from a river, you will defend to the death the landbase and the river, because your life depends on them. One of the things that happened is that we've had our allegiance, our loyalty, and our life-dependance transferred away from the living planet and over to this capitalist system."
We are like thr proverbial frog sitting in the water that is slowly coming to the boil. We can tolerate things when they get worse slowly, and therefore can ignore it most of the time.
Have you considered tracking down the parent fertile species of domestic seedless bananas and repeating the hybridisation to produce new strains? Could be a path to developing hardier locally adapted plantain strains in the future.
That would indeed be a worthwhile undertaking, but currently we're lacking both the space and the time for experiments of that sort. We will need a few more people and, more importantly, MORE LAND for things like this. 3+ acres is okay for subsistence, but not much more than that.
Our pisang awak is by far the most productive variety in our conditons. Do you have the seeded pisang awak? It is even more vigorous than pisang awak. The seeds are many and about the size of mung beans. I steam them and the seeds separates from the flesh cleanly in my mouth.
I have a sabar that just started growing, called pisang nipah or abu here. Seems big and strong.
Pisang kapas is quite ok too, and is the choice banana here to cook as a starchy vegetable. It tastes like the wild bananas here with big seeds.
Pisang asam (sour) is also quite vigorous and nice as a dessert banana.
I think these are the four that are common in the past in my region before chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation.
We have both the seeded and seedless Pisang Awak, but from what we can tell there's not a huge difference between the two kinds - they both succumb to the mystery fungus. We have two additional named sub-cultivars as well, but so far it seems none of them is resistant.
Let's hope this will not be a constant issue! Sometimes they'll pull through, so it might be a temporary thing that the banana plant can fight successfully in some cases. And since it is possible to replant shoots from an infected pile without them necessarily transferring the disease as well, it seems like putting in more work will be a viable response.
On our last project we grew over 30 different cultivars, but here only about 20 survived, and not all of them thrive... One reason surely was that we first arrived here at the beginning of dry season - the least ideal time to plant bananas. Many didn't make it.
That being said, the only banana we still really struggle to grow is the damn Cavendish. We just got our first nice bunch, after six years!
Yes, do keep us updated on the disease. Hopefully it is just a phase and the system grows more resilient to it, like after a sickness in us.
We have a cavendish here but it doesnt turn yellow when ripe, called pisang embun hijau (green dew banana). It has only fruited once or twice at our place after so many years. Tastes like cavendish but I think nicer because it ripened on the tree. Funnily my friend's orang asli workers refuse to eat it because it is not a banana they grew up eating.
re: revolution, I recently watched a YouTube video of Daniel Zetah (American regenerative farmer) where he says that our dependence on the modern food system keeps up unable to turn against it
It's incredible what people endure.
I'm sure the US's agriculture/environmental reporting will turn into a farce soon...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on all the things
Oh yeah, I know Daniel, and he's aware of our project as well. Smart dude! He surely got a good point here, in alignment with what Derrick Jensen wrote some years ago:
"If your experience is that your food comes from the grocery store and your water comes from a tap, you will defend to the death the system that brought those to you, because your life depends on it. If, on the other hand, your food comes from a landbase and your water comes from a river, you will defend to the death the landbase and the river, because your life depends on them. One of the things that happened is that we've had our allegiance, our loyalty, and our life-dependance transferred away from the living planet and over to this capitalist system."
Thanks a lot for reading!
I recently linked to this post in a virtual class discussion :)
We were assigned to read about "Wonderful Park" (search for the term here and check out the few paragraphs that follow - https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/08/lynda-stewart-resnick-california-water/) and it reminded me of the Laotian/Chinese farms that you describe (although possibly more bizarre...)
Exquisite. Thank you, for sharing. I wish I were in a position to financially support you, but am on my own journey of "gardening beyond hope".
Thanks a lot for reading - and don't worry, the mere intention already means a lot ;)
Hope you're doing fine, best greetings!
Aren't there over a 1,000 varieties of banana? Seems like the problem is lack of emphasis in using the genetic diversity we have.
We are like thr proverbial frog sitting in the water that is slowly coming to the boil. We can tolerate things when they get worse slowly, and therefore can ignore it most of the time.