Dwarf Cavendish Banana

Cavendish bananas, in both dwarf and standard form, became the dominant commercial banana variety worldwide after the 1950s, when the previously dominant Gros Michel variety was devastated by Panama disease, a soil fungus that wiped out banana plantations across Central America. Cavendish was resistant to that particular strain at the time and effectively replaced Gros Michel in global commerce within about two decades — though a newer strain of the same disease now threatens Cavendish in turn, a situation banana researchers have been racing to address for years.