Bananas: Extraction

Why the world's favourite banana cannot reproduce

Bananas grow in the humid tropics on large herbaceous plants propagated by suckers or tissue culture, not seed. Export plantations grow almost entirely the Cavendish variety, a sterile clone, which is uniform but genetically fragile. Fruit is cut green, washed, treated and boxed at the farm. It travels in refrigerated ships and containers kept cool to stop ripening. In importing countries, ripening rooms use ethylene gas to turn fruit yellow on schedule. Many producing countries also grow cooking bananas and plantains for local food.

Bananas are giant herbs that fruit about a year after planting and keep producing from suckers, so supply can respond within a year but disease can wipe out plantations. Three systems produce most bananas. Export plantations in Ecuador, Central America, Colombia and the Philippines grow Cavendish under intensive management, with irrigation, aerial spraying against black Sigatoka, and cable systems to move bunches to packhouses. Indian and Chinese farmers grow bananas, often from tissue culture with drip irrigation, for huge domestic markets. Across Africa and parts of Latin America, smallholders grow bananas and plantains for food with few inputs. Yields range from under 4 t/ha in the DR Congo to over 60 t/ha in Indonesia and South Africa (FAOSTAT 2024).

Methods compared

How each method works

Mid-sized and large farms grow Cavendish for exporters and multinationals. Ecuador relies largely on independent growers selling to exporters at a government-set minimum box price; fruit is packed on farm and trucked to Guayaquil and Machala.

Large, flexible supply close to US and EU markets, but margins are thin and TR4 has reached Colombia.

Companies such as Fresh Del Monte, Dole and Chiquita run or contract large farms with their own packing, shipping and ripening. Fresh Del Monte grows bananas on its own farms in Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Philippines. The Philippines (Mindanao) supplies Japan, China and the Middle East.

Highest yields and controlled quality, but heavy chemical use and labour disputes draw scrutiny.

Indian farmers in Maharashtra (Jalgaon), Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu plant tissue-culture Grand Naine plantlets with drip irrigation and fertigation, selling to traders for city markets. A growing share is graded and packed for export to the Gulf.

High yields for a huge home market, but post-harvest losses are high and cold chains are limited.

Farmers grow mixed varieties, including East African highland bananas, with little input, eating or selling locally. Disease (Xanthomonas wilt, Fusarium) and poor soils keep yields low.

Vital food and income source, but low yields.

Who does it: global

Who does it: India

India is the largest banana producer, with 37.6 Mt (27.0% of world output) on 0.95 Mha in 2024 (FAOSTAT), but exported only 765 kt worth $354 million (2.7% of world export value), mostly to the Gulf (UN Comtrade). Jalgaon in Maharashtra is the best-known growing hub.