- National emergency' declared in Costa Rica, one of the biggest suppliers
- Country produces 1.2 million tons of bananas each year - one in five could be ruined by plagues of mealybugs and scale insects
- Elsewhere, banana-eating fungus from Asia and Australia is spreading
Costa Rica, one of the world's biggest suppliers of bananas, has declared a state of 'national emergency' following estimates suggesting one in five bananas could have been destroyed this year by insects
Plagues of insects and a spreading fungus are threatening the world's supply of bananas, researchers have warned.
A state of 'national emergency' has been declared in Costa Rica, one of the world's biggest suppliers, while separately a banana-eating fungus from Asia is believed to be spreading.
Officials in the Central American country of Costa Rica fear that one in five bananas could have been ruined by insects this year. The country last year supplied 1.2 million tons of the fruit worldwide. - SOTT