Long Way Education

By Eman Abdallah Kamel

Eman is a writer and an engineer. She is interested in searching for and writing about plants and their facts, among many other topics.

This article covers the stages of banana production, from pre-land preparation to marketing. The most important banana-importing and exporting countries.

Bananas are a popular and widely consumed fruit, highly prized for their sweet taste and nutritional value. Image source: shutterstock.com

The Banana

The banana plant, scientifically known as Musa, is a large herbaceous flowering plant native to the tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Bananas are popular and widely consumed fruits worldwide, prized for their sweet taste, convenience, and nutritional value.

The banana plant typically consists of a stem-like structure known as a pseudostem, which consists of tightly packed leaf sheaths. From the middle of this false stem appears a flowering spike bearing clusters of bananas.

There are numerous varieties of bananas, but the two main types are dessert bananas (eaten fresh) and plantains (starchy and typically cooked before consumption).

Bananas thrive in warm, humid climates with well-drained soil. It is grown in more than 135 countries around the world.

Essential vitamins and minerals, including potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and dietary fiber, are abundant in bananas. They are also low in calories, making them a healthy snack option.

Top banana-producing countries. Image source: helgilibrary.com

The Most Important Countries Producing and Importing Bananas

1. Top Producer Countries of Bananas:

• India is the largest producer of bananas globally, with states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh leading in cultivation.
• China is another major producer of bananas, particularly in provinces like Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan.
• The Philippines is a significant producer of bananas, particularly the Cavendish variety.
• Ecuador is well-known for exporting Cavendish bananas, and it is one of the main banana producers in South America.
• Brazil is a major producer of bananas, with the states of São Paulo, Bahia, and Minas Gerais being prominent banana-growing regions.

2. Top Importer Countries of Banana

• The United States is one of the largest importers of bananas, with imports coming mainly from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• The EU is a significant importer of bananas, primarily from countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
• China also imports a considerable quantity of bananas to meet its domestic demand.
• Russia imports bananas from various countries to supply its market.
• Japan imports bananas from countries such as the Philippines, Ecuador, and the United States to meet consumer demand.

Did You Know?

Banana producers must adhere to specifications, control points, and compliance standards (CPCCs) for fruits and vegetables to obtain the GLOBALG.A.P. certificate. This includes pre-harvest, soil management, application of plant protection products, post-harvest activities, product handling, and on-farm storage.

Banana Production Stages

1. Pre-Land Preparation
2. Land Preparation
3. Planting
4. Water Management
5. Fertigation
6. Bagging and Removing Leaves
7. Weeding
8. Bunch Care
9. Harvesting
10. Marketing

Bananas need a large amount of water, but excessive watering will lead to congestion of the root zone, affecting plant growth. Therefore, the drip method is essential for proper water management. Image source: fao.org

1. Pre-Land Preparation

This stage includes choosing the climate and soil.

Climate: Bananas are a tropical crop that grows well in the temperature range of 13°C to 38°C, with a relative humidity of 75–85%. Normal growth of bananas begins at a temperature of 18°C, reaches an optimum level at a temperature of 27°C, then declines and stops at a temperature of 38°C. High temperatures cause sunburn. High-speed winds exceeding 80 km per hour damage the crop.

Soil: Banana soil should have good drainage, fertility, and moisture. Deep, rich clay soil with a pH between 6 and 7.5 is preferable for banana cultivation.

• A soil rich in organic matter with a high nitrogen content, having a suitable level of phosphorus, being neither too alkaline nor too acidic, and containing an abundance of potash is ideal for banana growth.
• Poorly drained, poorly aerated, and nutrient-deficient soil is not good for bananas.
• Avoid using black cotton soils that are dense, sandy, low-lying, and poorly draining.
• Hard, calcareous, and salted soils are not ideal for banana cultivation.

2. Land preparation

• Soil analysis for lime and phosphate is necessary before planting. If compost or kraal manure is available, add it.

Did You Know?

In nutrient management plans, composting and using compost are useful tools that, when used correctly, benefit crops and lessen the risk of pollution.

To learn more about the management of manure compost, visit a guide to the process and management of animal manure compost.

• Fertilize the soil with four bags of MAP fertilizer per hectare.
• Add two bags of lime if the pH is low when analyzing the soil. Tear up the field after fertilizing to loosen the deep soil.
• Dig the planting holes after determining the planting distance.

The pit size is usually 45 cm x 45 cm x 45 cm. Leaving prepared pits exposed to solar radiation helps kill harmful insects, is effective against soil-borne diseases, and aids aeration. You can plant in furrows as an alternative to holes. Soil layers, spacing between plants, and planting depth affect the best technique to use.

3. Planting

Bananas can be planted using three methods: tissue culture plants, suckers, and bits.

Tissue culture plants are small plants grown from banana plant tissue in bags and are ready for transplanting. 

How to Plant

Dig holes to prepare for planting. Incorporate aged kraal manure and replenish the holes with loose soil. Each planting hole has no more than 10 g of monoammonium phosphate (MAP). After that, take off the plastic bag and insert the plant into the hole. Take care that the soil in the bag does not disintegrate. Compact the soil after adding it to the hole surrounding the plant. Don’t forget to check the correct planting depth when planting.

Did You Know?

MAP is an important granular fertilizer. It is water-soluble and dissolves quickly in moist soil. Upon dissolution, the two basic fertilizer components separate again to release ammonium (NH₄⁺) and phosphate (H₂PO₄⁻), which plants depend on for healthy, sustainable growth.

To learn more about MAP, visit cropnutrition.com

The Benefits of Tissue Culture Plant Material:

• Pest- and disease-free seedlings. Uniform growth increases yield.
• Early maturity of crops—maximum land use—is possible in low-landholding countries like India.
• Round-the-year planting is possible as seedlings are made available throughout the year.
• It is possible to produce two healthy ratoons quickly, which lowers the cultivation costs.
• No staggered harvesting.

Sucker planting follows the same procedure as tissue culture plant planting.

Image source: http://www.arc.agric.za

Bits are small parts of the banana plant cut from the rhizome, and a bud is attached.

How to Plant 

When planting bits, the bit should measure approximately 10 cm, and the planting depth needs to be 10 cm.

4. Water Management

Bananas require a large amount of water to achieve high yields. But banana roots are a bad drawer of water. An efficient irrigation system, like drip irrigation, is necessary to support banana production.

Water the plants immediately after planting. Overwatering will cause congestion of the root zone due to the removal of air from the soil pores, affecting plant establishment and growth. Hence, the drip method is essential for proper water management in bananas.

5. Fertigation

To make the soil fertile for the banana plants after planting:

Apply the first fertilizer layer a month after planting (January) using two bags of LAN fertilizer per hectare (50 g per plant). Apply the second layer three months after planting (March) using two bags of LAN fertilizer per hectare (50 g per plant) and four bags of KCI fertilizer per hectare (100 g per plant). Then, apply the third layer five months after planting (May) using four bags of KCI and two bags of LAN fertilizer per hectare.

Fertilize again nine months after planting, in September, using four bags of KCI and two bags of LAN fertilizer per hectare. Then, again, eleven months after planting (November), use four bags of KCI and two bags of LAN fertilizer per hectare. Apply the last layer in January using four bags of KCI and two bags of LAN fertilizer per hectare.

6. Bagging and Removing Leaves

Cover banana bunches with bags to protect them from insects and wind. Remove the yellow, drooping leaves from the plant. Fruit bushes can get scratches and injuries from old leaves. Cut old leaves and place them on the ground. Cut leaves cover the surface and increase the nutrient content of the soil. Please do not pull the old leaves off the banana plant; cut them with a knife.

7. Weeding

Chemical sprays are used to kill weeds. Use the recommended chemicals and apply them carefully according to the instructions on the label. When you use chemical control such as Roundup, ensure no part of the banana plant is exposed to spray drift. Don’t spray the ground too much or when it is windy.

To prevent contact between the plants and chemical spray, weeds are also removed manually or with a hoe, particularly in the vicinity of the plant.

8. Bunch Care

Use chlorpyrifos once a month to kill thrips if they are present. Thrips attack the color of the fruit peel and make it unattractive.

Cut off as soon as possible after flowering any hands that are not fully developed and unfit for high-quality production to help improve the weight of the other hands. Occasionally, there is also the removal of the hand directly above the pseudohand.

The bunch’s excessive weight throws the plant off balance, increases the risk of lodging for the bearing plant, and lowers quality and productivity. Therefore, two bamboos positioned against the stems of the leaning side to form a triangle must support them. Additionally, this supports the bunch’s steady growth.

Take care to increase your yield; do not harvest too early or too late. Image source: stock.adobe.com

9. Harvesting

The crop is ready for harvest 11–12 months after planting. The first ratoon crop will be ready within 8–10 months of harvesting the main crop, and the second ratoon crop will be prepared 8–9 months after the second crop.

With the aid of a sharp sickle 30 cm above the first hand, the bunch should be harvested when the figures of the second hand from the top are 3/4 rounded. Harvesting can occur 100–110 days following the opening of the first hand.

Some Tips:

• Don’t harvest too early or too late; in other words, when they are thin and dark green or thick and yellow.
• Harvest bananas when they are plump and green.

At Harvest:

• To cut the false banana stem halfway across and halfway down, enlist the assistance of at least two people.
• Let the plant fall slowly, and remove the bunch from it by cutting the bunch stalk. Keep the bunches from falling to the ground.
• Once at the trailer, place the bunches side by side. Avoid piling them on top of each other.
• For more developed export markets where quality is required, the fruits should be cleared in running water or a diluted sodium hypochlorite solution to remove the excess latex. They are air-dried, graded based on finger size, packed in ventilated CFB boxes of 14.5 kg capacity or as per requirement with polythene lining, and pre-cooled at 13–15°C and 80–90% relative humidity.

10. Marketing

You have two options for selling your banana crop: you can contract with supermarkets and retail chains, who will buy and sell bananas regularly, or you can sell your crop at the local market, where you can make arrangements with the nearest local market to sell your bananas.

If your crop meets international quality specifications, you can export it to global markets.

Sources

• Banana Market Review: Preliminary Results 2023.
• Good agricultural practices for bananas.
• Project report of banana cultivation.
• Library/Cultivating Banana.pdf
• Tissue Culture of Banana
• researchgate.net/Value Chain Analysis of Organic Banana in Region12.

©Eman Abdallah Kamel, 2024

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