Panama Disease: An Old Nemesis Rears Its Ugly Head: Part 1. The Beginnings of the Banana Export Trades

This review summarizes how and where the banana export trades began, the early history of Panama disease, and the important effect that the disease had on the development of this industry. This is a story of political and social upheaval, and of the first large agriculture ventures in the tropics. It focuses on the trades in the Americas before they converted to the resistant Cavendish cultivars. Accepted for publication 17 October 2005. Published 21 December 2005.