Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

Asie/Pacifique - Asia/Pacific : A. Molina and R.V. Valmayor
cater to the exacting requirements of the banana export trade. Corporate farms are
capital intensive and involve heavy investments in plantation infrastructure. Production
practices are applied at optimum levels and productivity is very high. Quality of the
produce is of primary consideration.
Banana production under
adverse environments
Abiotic factors
The most serious climatic problem that confront commercial producers of banana in
Asia and the Pacific are the tropical storms and typhoons. Bananas are sensitive to
strong winds, especially for tall cultivars bearing a heavy bunch of fruit. Storms at 54 to
72 kph cause serious blowdowns and typhoons at more than 72 kph can result in
complete destruction of banana plantations. Taiwan, South China, Vietnam, northern
and central Philippines and many island countries in the South Pacific are annually
subjected to this calamity. But the occurrence of typhoons is seasonal and it coincides
with the monsoon months. After consistently suffering heavy losses caused by tropical
storms and typhoons that occur with predictable regularity, the banana growers in
Taiwan and the Ilocos region in northern Philippines have adapted a planting calendar
with corresponding plantation management practices that ensures minimal damage
caused by strong winds. In the case of northern Philippines, the tropical cyclones begin
in June and cease in November with highest frequency during the months of July, August
(mm)
600
500
400
300
200
100
M J J A S O N D J F M A
Average monthly rainfall Total monthly distribution of Tropical cyclones
Figure 2. Monthly average rainfall and frequency of tropical cyclones (1981-1995) plotted
against different stages of plant growth and development in the recommended annual
cropping system for Ilocos region.
30
25
20
15
10
5
429
Number of tropical cyclones