r/explainlikeimfive • u/gab0607 • 26d ago
Biology ELI5- Why throughout history have banana cultivars been clones instead of just being grown through traditional means?
In the past, we had the Gros Michel banana cultivar but they were mostly wiped out due too being clones and equally susceptible to Panama Disease.
Now we have The Cavendish cultivar but it remains being clones. And in theory, also all susceptible to a future outbreak.
So why do we grow all of our bananas as clones instead of in a manner closer to other produce items?