Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

426 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 2
Table 3. Export bananas by region (million 19-kg boxes).
Region 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 1998*
South America 101.1 127.0 199.5 239.1 274.2 289.7
Central America 152.2 165.9 194.7 210.9 232.3 248.5
Far East 42.0 47.5 51.1 59.1 88.9 101.5
ACP 62.7 70.7 73.5 72.5 53.0 58.0
Africa - - - - 26.9 28.2
Total
* projected
358.8 411.1 518.8 581.6 675.3 725.9
Table 4. Export bananas – Far East (million 19-kg boxes).
Region 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 1998*
Philippines 36.6 42.9 44.6 53.7 74.0 86.8
Taiwan 5.4 4.6 6.5 3.2 4.0 3.8
Malaysia 0 0 0 0.3 3.9 3.2
Indonesia 0 0 0 1.3 3.2 3.6
China 0 0 0 0.4 3.8 4.1
Total
* projected
42.0 47.5 51.1 58.9 88.9 101.5
Important banana cultivars in Southeast Asia
The center of origin for bananas is also its center of diversity. In Southeast Asia, the
consumers have a wide selection of dessert and cooking cultivars. Banana varieties vary
in color, size, shape and utility. The important commercial cultivars in Southeast Asia are
presented in Table 5.
Banana production systems
Banana production in Southeast Asia has been classified into four systems. The most
common is backyard production and the farmers grow bananas primarily for home
consumption. The choice of cultivars grown depends on family requirements whether
dessert or cooking bananas, quality preferences of household members and ease of production.
In the backyard production system, labor is entirely supplied by family members.
Neither commercial fertilizers nor pesticides are used, only compost and animal
manure are applied.
The second most popular is the mixed-crop production system. In Southeast Asia, the
fruit industry is primarily a smallholder enterprise and bananas are grown with other
crop commodities. In the mixed-crop production system, bananas can be the primary
crop or only a secondary crop, the permanent crop or a temporary crop. A common
practice in Southeast Asia is to plant banana as nurse crop to shade-loving plants such as