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
Panama disease upwards of 30 years. When the environment is ideal and there are host roots available, these chlamydospores will germinate and hyphae will penetrate the roots, initiating infection. There is in increase in the number of symptomatic plants when inflorescences emerge and the highest disease incidence occurs right before harvest. Once infected, microconidia are produced and present within the vessels of the plant’s vascular system. Macroconidia are another asexual spore that tends to be found on the surface of plants killed by Panama disease. Infection is systemic, moving through the vascular system and causing yellowing and buckling that starts in older