Banana industry in the Caribbean
Encyclopedia
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. Countries where bananas are a main export crop are Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
, Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
Conditions for Growth
- Temperature: Temperatures should vary from 26 to 31 °C (78.8 to 87.8 F). The temperature shouldn't fall below 11 °C (51.8 °F).
- Rainfall: Rainfall should at least average 1750 millimetres (68.9 in) per annum and must be well-distributed.
- Relief: Altitude must not exceed 300 metres (984.3 ft) for the plant to grow over night 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, acidicSoil pHThe soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity in soils. pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the activity of hydrogen ions in solution. It ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is basic. Soil pH is considered a master variable in soils as it...
, clay and medium to alluvial soils provide suitable conditions.
Land preparation
Mechanical tillingTillage
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking...
of the land is undertaken on gentle slopes. On flat land, harrowing is carried out to renew the soil fertility.
Cultivation practices
The plant is propagatePlant propagation
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...
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. New plants or suckers are left to grow from the rhizomeRhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
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 on to 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 13 °F (-10.6 °C). It undergoes regular changes of air to discharge ethylene
Ethylene
Ethylene is a gaseous organic compound with the formula . It is the simplest alkene . Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is classified as an unsaturated hydrocarbon. Ethylene is widely used in industry and is also a plant hormone...
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 exchangeForeign exchange reserves
Foreign-exchange reserves in a strict sense are 'only' the foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term in popular usage commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, Special Drawing Rights and International Monetary Fund reserve positions...
. Dominica earned about EC$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$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
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
produced 290,000 tons in 1999; Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
produced 115,000 tons in 1999; Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
produced 1,600,000 tons in 2005; Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
produced 2,200,000 tons in 2005; Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
produced 2,000,000 tons in 2005; Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
produced 733,000 tons in 1999; Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
produced 861,000 tons in 1999; Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
produced 69,000 tons in 1999; Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
produced 650,000 tons and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
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
- Used to make banana flour, baby food, banana chipsBanana chipsBanana chips are deep-fried and/or dried slices of bananas . They can be covered with sugar or honey and have a sweet taste, or they can be fried in oil and spices and have a salty and/or spicy taste. Variants of banana chips may be covered with chocolate instead...
, banana breadBanana breadBanana bread is a type of bread that is made with mashed bananas. It is often a moist, sweet, cake-like quick bread; however, there are some banana bread recipes that are traditional-style yeast breads.-History:...
, wineWineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, banana porridge, banana paperBanana paperBanana paper is used in two different senses: to refer to a paper made from the bark of the banana plant, mainly used for artistic purposes, or paper made from banana fiber, obtained from an industrialized process, from the stem and the non-utilizable fruits...
& banana ketchup - The juice is used as an ingredient in making shot guns
- 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. VincentSaint Vincent (island)
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...
, the pattern is the same, although output is greater from the estates. 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
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, thus imposing a threat to the Caribbean's position on the British market. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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
Ralstonia solanacearum is an aerobic non-sporing, 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 range of potential host plants...
) has caused much destruction in the northern part of the island while it has eradicated the industry in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
out of commercial production during the 1960s. Black sigatoka
Black sigatoka
Black Sigatoka is a leaf spot disease of banana plants caused by ascomycete fungusMycosphaerella fijiensis . Plants with leaves damaged by the disease may have up to 50% lower yield of fruit...
(Mycosphaerella fijiensis) causes premature ripening of the fruit. It has wiped out 40% of Dominica's 4000 hectares (9,884.2 acre) 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.
Panama disease (Fusarium oxysporum
Fusarium oxysporum
Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. as emended by Snyder and Hansen comprises all the species, varieties and forms recognized by Wollenweber and Reinking within an infrageneric grouping called section Elegans...
) is caused by tiny worms which feed on the roots of the plants, block the water vessels and reduce production. Production is also affected by pests which scar the banana peel. The placing of sleeves over the bunches and the removal of the buds are two controlling measures.