Banana and plantain

Bananas are grown in more than 150 countries, producing 105 million tonnes of fruit per year. There are more than 1000 known varieties. Cropping systems vary significantly depending on whether the crop is destined for the local or export market. Dessert banana production for export (17 million tonnes) still largely relies on intensive monocultures, which are sustained by using massive quantities of chemical inputs. It is of huge economic importance for many countries in the South.

The bananas grown for local consumption are generally grown in traditional, extensive systems. Dessert bananas account for 43 million tonnes and cooking bananas (plantains and others) for 45 million tonnes. Locally consumed bananas, which are a staple food in many tropical countries, play a major role in terms of food security.

The issues

• Contributing to the development and sustainability of intensive dessert banana production by reducing the adverse environmental impact of industrial plantations, particularly pesticide use.
• Contributing to food security and self sufficiency in cooking banana (plantain) producing countries by boosting the performance and resilience of cropping systems.

CIRAD's role

• Understanding agrosystem functioning under ecological intensification conditions.
• Designing and working with producers to assess innovative, cropping systems that are environmentally friendly in the case of dessert banana and more productive and resilient in the case of plantain bananas in Africa, in the smallholder sector.
• Exploring the genetic diversity of banana and studying the genomes so as to develop new hybrid varieties with sustainable resistance to pests and diseases, that can cope with the prevailing economic, societal and environmental constraints.
• Identifying the factors that determine quality (dessert bananas and cooking bananas) and developing cooking banana processing techniques.
• Contributing to a better understanding of how markets operate.