They grow on tropical plants as tall as trees, up to 3m (10ft) high. The bananas grow on a single stalk, often 70-160 fruit in one bunch. The plant is cut down but grows back again next season.
People often assume that the banana fruit grows on trees, however, the banana is a high herb which can grow up to 15 metres. There are over 1000 different varieties of bananas growing around the world, subdivided into 50 groups. Some are sweet, like the Cavendish variety, which is the most common and most widely exported.
It is named after Musa Cavendishii and was first grown at Chatsworth House in the UK in 1830. This variety of banana is currently under threat from a disease called Sigatoka, which has reduced banana yields by 40% every year.
According to the FAO and the Ecuador government, the banana industry generates about 2 million direct and indirect jobs in the country. At the height of the Windward Islands industry, it was estimated that up to sixty cents in every dollar circulating in the fragile island economy of Dominica were generated by banana production.
They are an essential source of income and employment for many households, as well as being a source of nutrition and food security for more than 400 million people in producer countries. However, only 15 to 20% of the world’s banana production is traded internationally. The largest producer India exports almost nothing, whilst Brazil exports very little, keeping bananas for the domestic market.
Credit : Banana Link
Picture Credit : Google
