Re:Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls
by elmar on Friday October 18, 2019 @04:52AM
(#21289720)
Bananas are a good example they are all clones, 95% of banana exports come from a single cultivated variety, the Cavendish.
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Re:Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls
by tda on Friday October 18, 2019 @07:35AM
(#21290411)
Especially because before 1950 the Gros Michel was about as popular as the Cavendish now. And then it got wiped out by a fungus so instead of diversifying, all banana plantations collectively switched to Cavendish. Now there is a new fungus the Cavendish is susceptible too, so perhaps in a few years we'll all be eating something else. Hopefully more than a single alternative variety is found this time...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavendish_banana: "After years of attempting to keep it out of the Americas, in mid-2019, Panama disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4), was discovered on banana farms in the coastal Caribbean region. With no fungicide effective against TR4, the Cavendish may meet the same fate as the Gros Michel."