Banana industry in the Caribbean
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Banana production in the Caribbean is widespread. Bananas are cultivated by both small farmers and large land holders. The plant is
perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
and is planted either in pure stands or in mixed cultivation, such as in
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. Countries where bananas are a main export crop are Belize,
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, Dominican Republic,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
,
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
,
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
,
Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...
, Martinique,
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
, Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, Panama,
Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
and
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.


Farming activities


Conditions for growth

*Temperature: Temperatures should vary from . The temperature should not fall below . *Rainfall: Rainfall should at least average per annum and must be well-distributed. *Relief: Altitude must not exceed for the plant to grow overnight fully. Sheltered valleys that do not experience strong winds provide good growing conditions since the banana plants have shallow roots and can easily be uprooted. *Soil: Light, acidic, clay and medium to alluvial soils provide suitable conditions.


Land preparation

Mechanical
tilling Tilling can mean: * Tillage, an agricultural preparation of the soil. * TILLING (molecular biology) * Tilling is a fictional town in the Mapp and Lucia novels of E. F. Benson. * Tilling Green, Ledshire, is a fictional village in Patricia Wentworth ...
of the land is undertaken on gentle slopes. On flat land,
harrowing In agriculture, a harrow is a farm implement used for surface tillage. It is used after ploughing for breaking up and smoothing out the surface of the soil. The purpose of harrowing is to break up clods and to provide a soil structure, call ...
is carried out to renew the
soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.
.


Cultivation practices

The plant is
propagate Propagation can refer to: *Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials *Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda *Reproduction, and other forms ...
d by roots or from suckers and takes one year to reach maturity. Each planting area consists of one bearing plant. When the crop is bearing, bunch sleeving is carried out. Each bunch is covered with a polythene bag and treated with insecticide.


Harvesting and transportation

When the mature fruit is about 12 months old, it is cut directly from the tree in a green condition. A cutter grooves and cuts the tree near the base while a backer catches the cut bunch. The upper part of the pseudo-stem is not removed as it is suitable for
mulching A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area. A mu ...
. New plants or suckers are left to grow from the
rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
s. The bananas are carried on the heads of laborers to the nearest road, then transported by trucks and motor trailers to the packing shed. From the plantations, bunches of bananas are loaded onto cable ways, leading to the packing shed where the choicest fruit is selected for export. As the crop is perishable, timing is of utmost importance. Fruit must be cut within a week's time to meet a shipping load.


Exporting

At the boxing plant, the bananas selected are hung on a conveyor and removed by hand from the stalk. They are then placed in tanks of water for at least four minutes to wash off the latex and other impurities. Every precautionary method must be taken against damage to the skin of the fruit. Wad wrapping and polythene bags are commonly used. The latex flow tends to be absorbed by the wad wrapping. At the port, the fruit is graded according to quality. It is weighed and placed in refrigerated compartments of ships at temperatures of . It undergoes regular changes of air to discharge
ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds). Ethylene i ...
gases produced by the chemistry of the fruit. In this way, the fruit can withstand long sea journeys and arrive in good condition. Shipping schedules are arranged about eight weeks in advance.


Importance of the banana industry

The industry provides a very valuable source of
foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...
. Dominica earned about
EC$ The Eastern Caribbean dollar ( symbol: EC$; code: XCD) is the currency of all seven full members and one associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The successor to the British West Indies dollar, it has existed si ...
40 million in 1998 and produced 30,000 tons in 1999; St.Lucia produced 80,000 tons and earned about EC$87.6 million in 1999; St. Vincent about EC$38.9 million in 1997 and produced 43,000 tons in 1999: Belize earned about BZ$43.16 million in 1998 and produced 78,000 tons in 1999; Jamaica earned about
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
29.6 million in 1999 and produced about 130,000 tons and Dominican Republic produced 432,000 tons. Other Caribbean producing countries are:
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
produced 290,000 tons in 1999; Cuba produced 115,000 tons in 1999;
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
produced 1,600,000 tons in 2005;
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
produced 2,200,000 tons in 2005; Mexico produced 2,000,000 tons in 2005;
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
produced 733,000 tons in 1999;
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
produced 861,000 tons in 1999; Nicaragua produced 69,000 tons in 1999; Panama produced 650,000 tons and Venezuela produced 1,000,000 tons. Banana cultivation is a major employer of rural labor as it is a labor-intensive industry. In Dominica, it is the second largest employer after the government, providing work for 6,000 farmers with another 700 employed at boxing plants. In St. Lucia, it provides employment for about 10,000 workers. In St. Vincent, there are about 5,000 banana growers.


Uses of the banana

* Eaten when ripe for punches * Used to make banana flour, baby food, banana chips, banana bread, wine, banana porridge,
banana paper Banana paper is a type of paper created from banana plant bark or banana peel fibers. Banana paper has a lower density, higher stiffness, higher disposability, higher renewability, and higher tensile strength compared to traditional paper. These ...
& banana ketchup * The banana stem is used in cloth production * Rope can be made from the dried stalk * Bananas can be used as animal feed, helping to reduce imports


Problems facing the banana industry

The small size of farms makes for inefficient production and contributes to a low standard of living. In Dominica, 8% of the fruit is supplied by 51% of the banana farming population, medium growers supply 41% and over 51% is supplied by large land holders. In the Windward group generally, the majority of the farming population owns less than a third of the banana acreage. In Grenada, there are a large number of peasant plots given to intercrop cultivation with bananas. In
St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...
, the pattern is the same, although output is greater from the
estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representat ...
s. The small size of farms provides a low income to farmers as they are unable to apply fertilizers or minimize the risk of insect pests and diseases. Low income returns to farmers are experienced when low prices are offered though shipping and marketing agents. As a result, farmers are unable to effectively increase their production. They are unable to apply fertilizers or to minimize risks caused by diseases. The industry is plagued with high costs and low prices. Bananas are also plentiful in Latin America and Africa, thus imposing a threat to the Caribbean's position on the British market. The United Kingdom imports a high percentage of their fruit from the Caribbean. Too great a supply reduces the price of the fruit. This is an economic disadvantage since the fruit is perishable. In Grenada, the Moko disease (
Ralstonia solanacearum ''Ralstonia solanacearum'' is an aerobic non-spore-forming, Gram-negative, plant pathogenic bacterium. ''R. solanacearum'' is soil-borne and motile with a polar flagellar tuft. It colonises the xylem, causing bacterial wilt in a very wide rang ...
) has caused much destruction in the northern part of the island while it has eradicated the industry in Trinidad and Tobago out of commercial production during the 1960s. Black sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) causes premature ripening of the fruit. It has wiped out 40% of Dominica's of banana cultivation. Even when the fruit is exported there is a high incidence of ship-ripe fruit which arrive at their destination in poor condition.


See also

;General *
Banana Framework Agreement The Banana Framework Agreement (BFA) outlines regulations on the treatment, sharing, and production of bananas and other various banana related activities. It was concluded in 1993 between the European Union and Costa Rica, Colombia, Nicaragua and ...
;Jamaica *
Banana Sector Retraining Project The Banana Sector Retraining Project was a program run by the HEART Trust/NTA during 2008 and 2009. It aimed to retrain displaced workers and farmers in the banana/plantain industry and those whose jobs may disappear because of loss of preferenti ...
*
Banana Support Programme The European Union's Banana Support Programme was a financial support program for the Jamaican banana industry that ran between 1999 and 2013. Since 1999, the European Union (EU) has provided more than €40 million in aid to the industry. Th ...
{{Banana production
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...