10 FARMERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF WILD MUSA IN INDIA

FARMERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF WILD MUSA IN INDIA 11

Figure 13. Fruits and seeds of Ensete glaucum

Figure 14. Fruits and seeds of Ensete spp.

Figure 15. Fruits and seeds of wild Musa spp. FARMERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF WILD MUSA IN INDIA 13

MUSA AND ITS EVOLUTION

Bananas belong to the family Musaceae, in The majority of domesticated alones, the order Zingiberales. The family Musaceae however, are of hybrid origin between Musa has two genera, Musa and Ensete, of which acuminata and the other major wild species Musa encompasses wild and domesticated in Eumusa, Musa balbisiana (Genome BB). bananas and plantains. Musa has been They are either AB, AAB, or ABB in subdivided into five sections, Callimusa, genomic terms. Australimusa, Eumusa, Rhodochlamys and Incertae sedis (Daniells, et al., 2001). The The key mutation required to convert wild genus Ensete is present in Africa and Asia, banana fruit into readily consumable fruit and is considered an old and relict genus with was parthenocarpy. This trait is governed by few good species. one or a few genes and it enables the fruit to fill with pulp even in the absence of [Editor’s note: The reader is referred to pollination. This is different from Simmonds’ classical book “The Evolution of seedlessness, which is governed by other the Bananas” published in 1962 for a succinct genes, or induced by triploidization. overview of banana evolution. Most of that Parthenocarpy must have occurred many treatment still stands, but three recent papers times in Musa acuminata in Malaya and by Wong, et al. question the separateness of the sections. In these papers they combine surrounding areas, enabling local people to Musa (Eumusa) with Rhodochlamys and pick up and grow different types which Callimusa with Australimusa. It remains to be gradually became less seedy as other seen if these combinations will stand the test mutations occurred for seedlessness or as of more extensive research and time. In any triploids occurred naturally. case, the old section Callimusa contains small- statured ornamental bananas, Rhodochlamys [Editor’s note: For Musa balbisiana, the also contains ornamental bananas, situation was different. Pure parthenocarpy Australimusa contains the fibre bananas, Musa either did not occur, or it was not picked up. textilis, and the Pacific domesticates called Although Simmonds shows this species ‘Fe’i’ bananas. The old section Eumusa ranging from Sri Lanka and southeast India contains the abundance of domesticated through to northeast India, Myanmar, South bananas and their progenitor wild species, as China to the Philippines and New Guinea, it is well as others.] still not clear in how much of this area truly wild Musa balbisiana was and is native. In Domesticated bananas are parthenocarpic and ancient times suckers of this species must have generally seedless. Nearly all existing been carried far and wide as people migrated varieties were domesticated in prehistory by away from areas where it was native since it villagers of India through to New Guinea. was and still is used today as a favourite leaf- Seeded Musa acuminata (Genome AA) banana. Its leaves are hardly affected by leaf became the progenitor of parthenocarpic AA spots and are favoured and sold for wrapping diploid clones and of AAA triploids. The food and for plates. Thus, this other species was, in effect, domesticated, and, being highly great bananas of international commerce male fertile, and at first, female fertile, (Cavendish) is an AAA triploid derived from hybridization occurred readily with the fruit- pure Musa acuminata. The main area of favoured parthenocarpic acuminatas in the domestication of pure acuminata types was villages. With time, these “domesticated” probably Malaya and neighbouring islands balbisianas were selected for soft-seeds and and areas as far east as the Indo-Chinese for fewer seeds and now these types are peninsula. largely sterile, are given names and propagated by suckers. In this paper, the author treats