Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

Asie/Pacifique - Asia/Pacific : D. Wattanachaiyingcharoen and P. Phongthong
Table 1. Land use and irrigated area in the lower northern region (1 ha = 6.25 Rai).
Province Total land Paddy field Field crop Fruit crop Irrigated
area (Rai) area (Rai) area (Rai) area (Rai) area (Rai)
Khamphaeng Phet 5,596,256 2,759,381 1,389,000 89,093 455,600
Nakhon Sawan 5,998,548 4,206,423 2,434,600 126,730 923,663
Phetchabun 7,917,760 4,129,696 1,436,962 224,448 223,050
Phichit 2,831,250 2,168,900 1,743,427 68,342 915,600
Phitsanulok 6,036,875 2,601,306 1,510,477 85,385 223,050
Sukhothai 4,122,557 1,886,459 1,016,505 95,217 275,520
Tak 9,755,625 942,127 248,863 42,138 154,850
Uthaithani 4,045,000 1,409,409 643,119 78,959 578,750
Uttaradit 5,596,250 1,386,161 625,332 172,885 103,690
Source: Wattanachaiyingcharoen et al. 1997
Agro-chemical use: Depends upon the outbreak of pests and diseases. Sigatoka and
Fusarium wilt are the major diseases.
Postharvest: Technology is available for exported crops (Phongsuwan 1994), but
farmers do not it use because of the cost.
The marketing system for Kluai Khai may be as simple as in Khamphaeng Phet,
where the farmers sell their bananas at their farm. One kilogram of banana costs about
2-9 Baht 1 in the domestic market. Farmers receive 1 Baht higher than domectic markets
in export market to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The export traders sell
the bananas under the name “Sunny Bunch” or “Golden Finger”. In general, the trading
system follows the pattern shown in Figure 4.
In 1995, the total planted Kluai Khai area in Thailand was about 86,816 Rai and the
total production 121,261 tons. The average production is 1.858 tons/Rai and average
price is 43.27 Baht/kg.
Present problems of Kluai Khai
production, improvement
and management
In 1992, the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and Department of Agricultural Extension
(DOAE) announced the Improvement of Banana Production Programme and listed the
existing constraints such as:
• Unsuitable varieties for export,
• Lack of post-harvest technology, packaging and poor handling techniques,
• Low quality and non-uniformity of exported banana,
• Marketing (Wattanachaiyingcharoen 1992).
1 1 US$ = 38.6 Thai Baht (THB), rate October 1999.
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