Building Bridges with Taiwan Bananas：Helping Regional Partners Fight Fusarium Wilt with Disease-Resistant Plantlets and Expertise

Fusarium wilt—often dubbed “banana cancer”—threatens the Central American banana sector, which is worth an estimated US$2.7 to 2.8 billion per year. In Taiwan, where farmland is intensively cultivated, the Taiwan Banana Research Institute (TBRI) has drawn on more than half a century of breeding expertise to help neighboring countries and diplomatic allies. With the disease-resistant Formosana banana and other climate-resilient cultivars, Taiwan has become an international focal point for banana know-how.