Need for Pesticides

The popularization of a single breed of banana is directly linked to the current problem of workers rights in the banana industry. Currently, workers are not being properly informed of the dangers of working with pesticides, and are not being provided proper protection by their supervisors when they are in contact with pesticides.
The breed of banana popularized in the United States is derived from a line of bananas first pioneered by a Jamaican man named Jean Pouyat in 1837. This breed line has the Gros Michel rhizome in it, which is a genetically inherited component. Due to the genetic need for bananas to be related in order to inherit this component, the line of bananas has very little gene variation. The lack of gene variation in a plant does not allow it to evolve along with its predators, thus making it more susceptible to diseases and pests. Since this same gene pool for bananas has been in circulation for over a hundred years, these plants are susceptible to a variety of diseases that have perfected the art of attacking them, the main two of which are Panama disease and Sigatoka disease. This low gene variation is significant because it causes them to need extra human care. In order for the bananas to survive these diseases, they must be sprayed with pesticides by workers. These pesticides can cause harm to the workers if they are not properly equipped with protection. If it were not for the popularization of a particular banana breed, then there would be no need for workers to be put in harm’s way to spray the plants, because the bananas would be allowed to naturally co-evolve with their pests.