Panama disease be immune to Panama disease was found and adopted, the Cavendish. In a few years, the devastated plantations resumed business as usual, and the transition went smoothly in the American market. Shortly thereafter, Malaysia entered the banana-growing business. Cavendish banana plantations were new to that country in the 1980s, but they rapidly expanded to meet the demand. Thousands of acres of rain forests and former palm oil plantations were shifted to banana production. Within a few years, though, the new plants began to die. It took several years to identify the problem. They found it to be Panama disease, although
Crop scouting planting date, planting rate (spacing), row width, tillage operations, crop yields, pesticide names, rates, application dates and who applied them, fertilizer and lime applications and rates, weather patterns, soil type, soil test records (N, P, K, percent organic matter, and pH), irrigation availability, major pest problems, and anything else that could make scouting more effective. This history is very important when assessing signs of crop injuries, because they are generally ambiguous since similar abnormalities can have unrelated causes. It is best to always be prepared when entering the field, as one never know what kind of issues one will find.