(Ecofin Agency) - The Mozambican banana sector is now terrorised as TR4, a particularly deadly strain of the Panama disease has reappeared in two banana plantations in the country. The disease which is affecting the Cavendish (a variety mainly grown on the industrial scale) could lead to major disturbance in the sector on a global scale.

For Mozambique, this would represent a major economic catastrophe, the sector annually generating approximately USD 70 million. According to Professor Altus Viljoen of the department of vegetal pathology of the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, the Mozambican authorities have good reasons to be afraid. Following a visit to one of the affected farms, he declared “I have never seen TR4 developing at the speed at which it is progressing in this plantation”.

According to experts, the recent floods in Mozambique helped the disease to progress in the country.