Bananas and Plantains
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Species:
M. acuminata
M. balbisiana
Genus Musa
Section Eumusa

Major species of economic importance
– Musa acuminata (A genome)
– Musa balbisiana (B genome)

Ploidy levels of commercial bananas
– Diploid, AA and BB
– Triploid, AAA, AAB, ABB
– Tetraploid, AAAA, AABB, ABBB

Major evolutionary events
– Probably millennia ago
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Types of Bananas

Banana
– Desert banana, fresh
consumption
– AAA

Plantain
– Cooking, Meal,
Vegetable banana
– Plátano, banano
macho
– AAB or ABB
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Banana Origin and Domestication
Reached Europe
by 1516
AAB
ABB
ABBB
Before 200 AD
AB
Industry developed in Late 19th Century
AAB
AAA
AA
AAA
AAB
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AA
ABB
AABB
AAAB
Adaptation: Hot Humid Tropics

Temperature
– Frost free
– Mean temperature of 27 C (80 F)
– Minimum winter temp of 15.5 C (60 F)

Moisture
– Rain, 100 mm (4.0”) per month

Soil
– Good drainage is needed
– Slightly acid, pH 5.5 to 6.5
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Banana Cultivation and Climate
Most Banana/Plantain Production within Region with
Winter Temperate Greater than 15.5 C (60 F) and
Rainfall greater than 1,270 mm (50”)
January 15.5 C isotherm
1,270 mm isohyets
1,270 mm isohyets
June 15.5 C isotherm
(Figure 6.1 from Simmonds, 1966)
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Banana Cultivation and Climate
Bananas Grown for Local Consumption
January 15.5 C isotherm
B
B
B
B
B
B
1,270 mm isohyets
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B B
B B
B
B
B
B
B
June 15.5 C isotherm
(Figure 6.1 from Simmonds, 1966)
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1,270 mm isohyets
B
B
B
Banana Cultivation and Climate
Bananas Grown for Export = T
January 15.5 C isotherm
B
T
T TB T
BT T
T
T
B
T BB
1,270 mm isohyets
B
B
B
TB
T B
B
B T
T
B B
B B
1,270 mm isohyets
B T
B
B
B
B
T
June 15.5 C isotherm
(Figure 6.1 from Simmonds, 1966)
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B
B
B
T
T
Weather Problems

Wind
– 15-20 mph - leaf damage, twisting, breakage
– 40 mph - considerable damage
– 60 mph - complete destruction

Why
– Pseudostem not as strong as woody stem
– Large leaves that catch wind
– Shallow root system
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World Production
(1,000s mt)
Region
Bananas
Plantains
Africa
7,051
22,478
Asia
40,738
996
Americas
24,378
1,835
Total
72,167
25,309
FAOSTAT database, 2000-2002
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World Production
(%)
Region
Bananas
Plantains
Africa
10%
89%
Asia
56%
4%
Americas
34%
7%
72,167
25,309
Total (1,000s mt)
FAOSTAT database, 2000-2002
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World Production
Leading Producing Countries
Region
Africa
Asia
Americas
Bananas
Plantains
Burundi, Uganda,
Egypt, Cameroon,
Congo
India, Philippines,
China, Indonesia,
Thailand
Ecuador, Brazil, Costa
Rica, Colombia,
Guatemala
Uganda, Rwanda,
Ghana, Nigeria,
Ivory Coast
Myanmar, Sri Lanka
Colombia, Peru,
Venezuela, Ecuador,
Cuba
FAOSTAT database, 2000-2002
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World Production
FAOSTAT database, 2000-2002

Production
– Bananas, 72 million MT (56% Asia)
– Plantains, 25 million MT (89% Africa)

Staple food for 70 million Africans
– 90% grown on small farms and
consumed locally
– 10% exported from plantations

Latin America and Caribbean region
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World Yields (mt/ha)
Region
Bananas
Plantains
Africa
6.5
5.6
Asia
19.9
10.4
Americas
18.7
10.0
FAOSTAT database, 2000-2002
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Plant Structure
Monocot

Perennial herb
– All leaves/inflorescence
origin from under ground
corm


Spreads via rhizomes
Plants “walk”
– Largest plant without woody
trunk

Pseudostem, leaf bases
– Fruits once
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Banana Varieties

Gros Michel (Big Mike)
– Leading cv for 100 years
– Good production, cycle 13-15 months
– Tall plants (4-8 m), wind damage
– Good post harvest qualities


Ripened uniformly
Resistant to bruising and discoloration
– Shipped as bunches
– Susceptible to Panama disease

Replaced by Cavendish - resistant to Panama
disease
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Banana Varieties

Cavendish
– Currently the leading cv for export
– Heavy production, cycle 11 months
– Smaller plant (2-3 m) - less wind damage
– Marginal post harvest qualities


Does not ripen uniformly - use special
chambers
Susceptible to bruising and discoloration
– Shipped packed in boxes
– Resistant to Panama disease
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Many Locally Important
Varieties

Active breeding
in Africa, South
America, and
Asia
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Flower Structure

Three types of flowers on
inflorescence
– Female flowers - develop into fruit
– Hermaphroditic flowers
– Male flowers

Fruit is a berry
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Banana
flower
Female
Male
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Banana
flower
Female
Three months from
flowering to harvest
Male
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Botanically the Banana is a Berry
One pistil
One or many seed
Other Berries
Tomato
Kiwi
Grape
Seed Remnants
Persimmon
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Production Cycle

Propagation
– Vegetative
– Rhizomes that are 6-8” diameter
– Planted within hours of digging
– Special fields for production of
rhizomes for new orchards

Nematode problems
– Hot water treatment (65°C)
– Chemical dips
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Planting

Density
– 2.9 m (8.5’) square
– 1,812 pl/ha (725 pl/ac)

Size of export plantation
– Need to supply 36,000 mt/year
– Yield 40 mt/ha -> 1,000 ha
– Supply 1,000 mt/ship every 10 days
– Four years to attain commercial
production
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Production

Banana plants
– Take 8-9 months to flower


11-14 leaves
Six leaves needed for good production
– Bunch take 3 months to develop
– Fruiting cycle for Dwarf Cavendish is
11 months

Banana plants “walk”
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Training and Plant Selection

Banana plants “walk”
– Select and train sucker for next crop
to not interfere with growing bunch
– When harvest fruit the sucker should
be 2 m (5-6’)
– Eliminate suckers that are



Poorly positioned
Too small
Unhealthy
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Production
Fruiting Stem
1st Replacement
Daughter
2nd Replacement
Grand daughter
Fruiting Mat
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Panama Disease

Fusarium oxysporum
– Caused the demise of Gros Michel
– Plantains are generally resistant

Control
– Resistant varieties
– New strain of the pathogen in Asia
overcomes Cavendish resistance gene

Need to develop a wider range of
varieties for the export market
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Panama Disease
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Black Sigatoka
Banana Leaf Spot

Mycosphaerella - Cercospora
– Native to Southeast Asia

History
– Early 1960s - Pacific and Asia
– Early 1970s - Latin America
– Late 1970s - Gabon in Africa - spread through Africa

Symptoms
– Small translucent pale yellow streaks
– Necrotic lesions (light gray w/ yellow halo)
– Lesions coalesce and destroy leaf
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Black Sigatoka
Banana Leaf Spot

Yield Losses - by losing leaf area
– This is generally not a problem in mixed
– 50% yield loss
– Also cause premature ripening in harvested
fruit

Control
– Mixed plantings

Generally not a serious problem
– Monoculture


Fungicides (Manzate)
Resistant varieties
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Bagging of the Fruit

Weekly inspection
– Last true hand is 4” long
– Remove terminal end of bunch
– Mark with ribbon - colors change with the
week
– Cover with perforated polyethylene bag

Why
– Protection



Pests
Damage from leaves
Dust and dirt
– Advance ripening
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Fertility

Forty tons of bananas per hectare
– 80 kg N
– 20 kg P2O5
– 240 kg K2O
=
=
=
80 kg N
9 kg P
200 kg K
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Supporting the Crop

52% of plant weight is the raceme
– Prop with poles
– Guide lines to base of adjacent plant
– Leaf pruning can reduce problems
with wind damage
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Harvest

Crew harvests at 3-4 day intervals
– Look for colored ribbons which
indicate age of bunch

Minimum size
– 5 hands
– Pick green, with certain size

Banana bunch weighs 90-110 lbs
– Two man operation
– Hung on hook on cable system
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
Cable system runs
from banana field
to the packing
house
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Fruit Packing and Grading
Separate into
hands
 Wash to prevent
staining
 Pack in boxes

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Fruit Packing and Grading

Pack in boxes
– Only pack
unblemished
fruit
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Post Harvest

Storage temperature
– 57 - 59 F
– Below 56 F may cause chilling injury

Bananas are ripened for marketing
– 58-64 F
– Ethylene treatment
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Nutritional Value

100 gm edible pulp
– 85 calories, mostly carbohydrates
– Vitamin, A, C, B1, B2, niacin
– Minerals, very high in K

Reduce risk of high blood pressure and
strokes
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Any Questions?