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It turns out that the 2009 agreement on tariff reduction was only the beginning of the end of the banana wars. A number of legal steps were required before a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement could be signed, including the introduction of EU legislation and the separate ratification of the deal by individual countries. The definitive end of the banana wars was announced when the European Union and 10 Latin American countries signed an agreement to formally end eight separate WTO cases. Malcolm Borthwick, a business reporter with BBC News, analyses the impact of the end of the trade war.

Fresh Plaza reports on the estimated benefits of excluding the Banana bunchy top virus from commercial banana plantations in Australia. The study published in PLOS ONE estimates that exclusion would avoid Aus$15.9-27.0 million in annual losses for the banana industry.

Climate change will affect where bananas are grown, but the range of the crop is not expected to shrink, according to the policy brief Recalibrating Food Production in the Developing World. Bananas might lose out in areas where rainfall will decrease but warmer weather might allow the cultivation of certain varieties at higher altitudes. Bananas might even replace potatoes in places, echoed the BBC.

Bananas in Western Australian take between 12 and 14 months to grow, a process that contributes to their sweeter taste, along with the arid climate which forces growers to bunch their plants closer together. The low pest pressure also helps growers keep inputs to a minimum, according to an article in Fresh Plaza.

In July 2011, banana plants displaying symptoms typical of bunchy top were observed in Dangbo Commune, Ouémé Department, Benin. Until now, Cameroon was the western most frontier of Banana bunchy top virus presence in sub-Saharan Africa. The New Disease Report  underscores an urgent need for intensive surveys in neighbouring countries and implementation of strict phytosanitary measures to prevent movement of planting material from the infected zones and to prevent further spread of BBTV. 

Following a report that black leaf streak had landed in Guadeloupe, the Martinique and Guadeloupe association of banana producers (UGPBAN) will be advising growers and plantation workers on deleafing measures that by keeping the inoculum level low should help reduce the use of fungicides. According to a radio clip (in French) done four months after the detection of the fungus, the spread of the disease has been very limited so far.

Opinion piece on the importance of controlling black leaf streak to protect export revenues, by  Humberto Gómez, a technological innovation specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (Trinidad and Tobago office).

A supporter of evidence-based medicine debunks the claim circulating on the Internet that high levels of tumor necrosis factor in ripe bananas can help prevent or cure cancer.

Jeff Daniells reports on his visit to Sitio Barreiras Frulticultura, a privately owned Brazilian company, in an article for Australian Bananas Magazine.

The introduction of rainwater harvesting on the leeward side of Mount Meru in Tanzania has allowed 500 farmers to start growing bananas. Small-scale farmers from the drought-stricken Arumeru District testify to the effectiveness of the technology.

A study suggests that the unreplenished removal of soil nutrients by growing bananas could account for the diminishing yields observed during the study period. Measuring the organic and mineral content of soils, the researchers found low levels of important minerals. The little fertility left was mainly from topsoil organic matter. The study was conducted in four agro-ecological regions of Rwanda and south-western Uganda between 2007 and 2011.

FHIA's banana and plantain programme leader, Juan Fernando Aguilar, talks to Fresh Portal about FHIA-17 and on-going work to breed Cavendish using conventional methods.

In response to the arrival on the Caribbean island of Dominica of the dreaded black leaf streak, the government has stepped up measures to contain the spread of the fungus to protect the industry.

Ongoing research in Uganda is showing that by intercropping coffee with banana, farmers are greatly increasing the total yield value of a single plot of land since the practice leaves the yield of the coffee crop virtually untouched, while providing extra food or income in the form of banana. There are trade-offs, however. Besides requiring larger inputs of labor and capital at the outset, the system removes larger quantities of nutrients from the soil. In the long-term, coffee can also out-compete banana.

Following the announcement that the banana genome had been sequenced, the Los Angeles Times published a series of article on the sequencing, genetic engineering and evolution of the banana, while an Australian researcher chipped in with her own analysis in The Conversation.

Scientists at India's National Institute for Inter-disciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) have developed an anaerobic process to extract fibre from a banana plant. The separated fibres are then cleaned and dried, while the organic wastes can be converted into biogas.

Researchers from Brazil developed and analysed a gluten-free pasta made from the flour of green bananas. The pasta could be an alternative for patients with celiac disease. The study was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

An article in The Guardian reveals that even though 60 per cent of banana production in the Dominican Republic is now certified organic and a quarter certified Fairtrade, the industry still relies heavily on a migrant workforce paid poverty wages, living in slums and with no legal status.

A team of scientists led by Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation is spearheading a $6 million Banana Plant Protection Programme. Instead of fighting pests and pathogens after they have become a major problem, researchers aim to keep banana plants healthy through resistant varieties and improved plant-protection systems.

A staff of Altroconsumo, an Italian consumer organisation, blogs about her visit to banana plantations in Ecuador, where she attended the Second Conference of the World Banana Forum.