The Yelloway is...
…a joint venture aimed at researching and developing a disease-resistant banana variety while also reducing carbon emissions.
What is Yelloway
Chiquita, the leading banana company, has partnered with KeyGene, MusaRadix, and Wageningen University and Research (WUR) for this purpose.
The primary aim is to produce disease-resistant bananas, with a focus on combatting Tropical Race 4 (TR4) and Black Sigatoka, two major pathogenic diseases affecting banana crops.
As a secondary objective we seek to reduce carbon emissions associated with banana production and make the banana crop overall more resilient. All this is done through traditional plant breeding assisted by state of the art technology.
Why is Yelloway needed
Tropical Race 4 (TR4) and Black Sigatoka are two major pathogenic diseases affecting banana crops. In addition Chiquita recognizes the significant impact of climate change on the banana industry.
TR4 in time, will threaten everyone who’s livelihood depends on the banana crop. Diseases like TR4 and Black Sigatoka already cost the banana industry millions of dollars annually, and the current practice of preventing Black Sigatoka involves carbon-emitting crop control measures. Developing disease-resistant banana varieties through Yelloway is an effort to safeguard banana production and reduce carbon emissions.
What does Yelloway do
The Yelloway initiative follows four main pathways: genome mapping, plant breeding, laboratory testing, and field testing.
Yelloway has created a family tree of banana diversity based on over 160 different banana types and has produced 150 successful crosses, resulting in 32,000 seeds.
The goal of the initiative is to produce new disease-resistant banana varieties that resemble the popular Cavendish banana in terms of taste, appearance, and storage.
The first batch of Yelloway-produced bananas is in the Philippines for field trials.
