Musa markkuana

In areas of Arunachal Pradesh, deforestation and degradation of forest habitat is ongoing (Chatterjee 2008). Major drivers of land use change across the native range are shifting cultivation (jhum), encroachment for grazing and timber extraction, and an increase in commercial agricultural plantations (Than et al. 2001, Chatterjee 2008). However, the specific impact of deforestation on members of the Musa genus is somewhat difficult to quantify: while clear-felling or land conversion is likely to be detrimental to the species, wild bananas spring up in transient, often man-made, habitats and thus may benefit from human disturbance to some extent (Simmonds 1962). Felling of trees along narrow stretches of roadside may actually provide suitable habitat for some Musa species (Kiew 1987) and M. markkuana has been found growing along roadsides (Sabu et al. 2013); on this basis, it is thought that industrial-scale land conversion is more likely to constitute a threat to the species than smaller-scale disturbance.

The genus Musa is listed in Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) which aims to guarantee sustainable agriculture and food security through the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well as ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use (FAO 2009). This species is not known to have been collected from within any protected areas but its native range overlaps with multiple (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2019); if it occurs within any of these protected areas, passive conservation is presumed. The species is not known to be represented in ex situ conservation efforts (Ruas et al. 2017, BGCI 2019, Genesys Global Portal on Plant Genetic Resources 2019), although Hareesh et al. (2017) allude to collections held at the Calicut University Botanical Garden. M. velutina is well represented in ex situ conservation and it is possible that some of these accessions may now be recognised as M. markkuana. In any case, gathering of wild germplasm material for ex situ conservation from extant wild plants is recommended.