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INTRODUCTION

BANANA - Adam’s FIG / Tree of wisdom / Kalpataru / Apple of

paradise.

Modern bananas and plantains originated in the South East

Asian and Western pacific regions where their inedible, seed-

bearing, diploid ancestors can still be found in the natural forest

vegetation.

Over many years, various inedible diploid subspecies of Musa

acuminata Colla crossed naturally resulting in the production of

numerous intraspecific hybrids

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Some of these hybrids were parthenocarpic, female sterile and

triploid in genomic structure, and local inhabitants discovered that

such plants had edible fruits and could be propagated be

vegetatively by suckers.

In this manner, the superior edible crosses of Musa acuminate would

have been selected, cultivated, propagated and distributed locally

as a food crop.

The edible triploid banana in Southeast Asia were further selected

according to vigour, fruit size and adaptability, and were inferior.

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However, in certain areas various edible diploids of Musa

acuminata were also preserved over the years.

Diploid and triploid selections of Musa acuminata were taken by

man to drier mansoon areas where another wild and seeded

diploid, Musa balbisiana, was growing naturally.

In these areas, interspecific hybridization occurred to produce

diploid and triploid crosses of Musa acuminata x Musa balbisiana.

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The introduction of Musa balbisiana genes from the drier monsoon

regions into Musa acuminata clones from the humid tropics of

Southeast Asia conferred a measure of hardiness and drought

tolerance into hybrids.

In addition the Musa balbisiana genes, induced greater disease

resistance, improved nutritional value, increased starchiness and

provided hybrids suitable for cooking, as opposed to the pure

Musa acuminata cultivars which are sweeter and more suited to

dessert use.

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DISTRIBUTION OF BANANA

Historical references to banana and plantain are many and varied.

The earliest written reference to banana is in Sanskrit and dates back

to around 500 BC.

Edible bananas originated in the Indo-Malaysian region reaching to

northern Australia. They were known only by hearsay in the

Mediterranean region in the 3rd Century B.C., and are believed to

have been first carried to Europe in the 10th Century A.D.

Early in the 16th Century, Portuguese mariners transported the plant

from the West African coast to South America.

The types found in cultivation in the Pacific have been traced to

eastern Indonesia from where they spread to the Marquesas and by

stages to Hawaii.

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DESCRIPTION OF BANANA

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It is a giant herbaceous plant with an apparent trunk that bends

without breaking

The banana has an underground stem with adventitious roots. It

is full of food for the plant. Alongside the main stem, it has other

stems called suckers. These stems grow into banana plants. The

banana plant produces its fruit and dies. Another sucker

replaces it.

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The banana plant has large leaves closely rolled up

one over the other. Together they look like a trunk, but

they form only an apparent trunk.

CONT.

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Inside it there is a bud which produces leaves. After 7 or 8 months, when some 30 leaves have grown, the bud produces flowers

The flowers of the banana plant form a large

spike It turns downward, to the soil and

opens. It bears male and female flowers.

The female flowers pressed closely

together in the shape of hands

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A red bud at the end of the spike

containing the male flowers; the male

flowers die quickly and the bud slowly

becomes smaller

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The banana plant yields fruits.

These fruits are long in shape, with yellow or green skin.

The spike produces many bananas.

The bananas on one spike are called a bunch.

On this bunch, the bananas are clustered in several hands.

The flesh of a banana is light in colour, sweet and soft. In the

middle of the fruit you can see little black specks; these are the

seeds, but they will not germinate

IMPORTANCE Bananas and plantain are very important

fruit crops in the tropical world.

They are grown largely by small holders

and play a major role in food security and

income generation for millions of the

region’s rural poor worldwide.

In terms of gross value of production,

banana is the developing world’s fourth

most important food crop after rice, wheat

and maize and as a fruit, it ranks first.

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More than 100 million tonnes of bananas are produced every year

in 120 countries in over 10 million hectares.

Only about 13 per cent of the world’s banana production is

exported and 87 per cent is consumed where they are produced,

indicating, that banana plays a vital role as source of food and

income in developing countries.

Production statistics in 2004 show that banana is an important crop

in the three major regions namely Asia, Latin America and Africa.

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World’s Top 10 Banana Producers (2004)

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Top 10 countries

Production (MT)% of total

world

productionBananas Plantains

India 16.82 0.00 16.55

Uganda 0.62 10.00 10.44

Brazil 6.59 0.00 6.49

Ecuador 5.90 0.65 6.45

China 6.22 0.00 6.12

Philippines 5.50 0.00 5.41

Colombia 1.55 2.95 4.43

Indonesia 4.40 0.00 4.33

Rwanda 0.00 2.47 2.43

Ghana 0.01 2.38 35.01

Rest of the world 21.38 14.21

India topped the list with 16.55 metric tonnes whereas the

Philippines with a total production of 5.41 metric tonnes came in 6th

after Uganda, Brazil, Ecuador and China.

India with the production of 16 million tonnes of bananas annually,

provides livelihood security to millions of people in production, trade

and processing.

The fruit contributes more than 2.8% to GDP of agriculture in India

and 31% of the total food production.

However the efficiency of banana supply chain in the country is not

even a patch on the Indian manufacturing supply chain, resulting

into high wastages (30%), high retail to farm gate ratio (1.8) and

high mark up percentage i.e. prices paid by the consumers (300%)

– one of the highest in the world.

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Banana-area and production in IndiaArea (‘000 ha) Production (‘000 t) Productivity (t/ha)

Andhra Pradesh 36.9 922.1 24.99Arunachal Pradesh 3.4 11.6 3.41Assam 41.9 581.9 13.89Bihar 28.3 566.3 20.01Goa 1.9 14.4 7.58Gujarat 32.7 1097.0 33.55Karnataka 60.9 2010.0 33.00Kerala 29.1 415.1 14.26Madhya Pradesh 19.9 807.0 40.55Maharashtra 59 3456.0 58.58Manipur 1.4 11.5 8.21Meghalaya 5.2 63.0 12.12Mizoram 3.2 16.5 5.16Nagaland 1.5 32.7 21.80Orissa 24.7 276.5 11.19Rajasthan 0.1 0.8 8.00Tamil Nadu 88.1 4406.0 50.01Tripura 4 27.4 6.85Uttar Pradesh (Plain) 1.3 35.8 27.54West Bengal 18.7 301.2 16.11Andaman & Nicobar 1.6 7.9 4.94Lakshadweep 0.1 0.3 3.00Pondicherry 0.4 11.8 29.50Total 464.3 15073.0 32.46Previous Next End

Banana are cultivated commercially under tropical and sub-

tropical conditions in all the states of India except in those having

extreme winters such as Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and

Kashmir.

In Tamil Nadu bananas are cultivated in about 88,100 ha and the

total production is estimated at 44,06,000 tonnes. The

productivity is very high in Maharashtra (58.58 t/ha) followed by

Tamil Nadu (50 t/ha).

Though, India is the leader in banana production, Indian export of

fresh banana is meager and it was only 280 metric tonnes during

the year 1998.

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NUTRITIONAL VALUE

Banana is an important source of energy and the cheapest source

of nutrients for the bulk of our population.

In terms of nutritional value, the fruits are rich in carbohydrates,

minerals and vitamins.

It provides more balanced food than many other fruit crops.

In terms of energy, bananas are even better compared to potatoes.

Bananas and plantains are recognized as the fourth most important

global food commodity after rice, wheat and milk.

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Nutrient composition of banana

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Constituents Availability

Moisture (%) 70-75

Carbohydrates (%) 22-27

Crude Fibre (%) 0.5 – 0.8

Protein (%) 0.8 – 1.2

Fat (%) 0.2 – 0.3

Ash (%) 0.7 – 0.9

Potassium (mg / 100 g) 200-400

Phosphorus (mg/100 g) 15-30

Calcium (mg/100 g) 20-160

Iron (mg/100 g) 0.6 – 0.8

Beta-Carotene (mg/100g) 0.020 – 0.025

Thiamin (mg/100 g) 0.02-0.05

Riboflavin (mg/100 g) 0.01 – 0.5

Niacin (mg/100 g) 0.70-0.78

Ascorbic acid (mg/100g) 10-12

Energy (calories/100g) 90-105

The fruit pulp of banana has rich and easily digestible

carbohydrates apart from many vitamins like riboflavin, niacin

and ascorbic acid and minerals such as calcium, magnesium,

potassium, phosphorus and has several medicinal properties.

It is hence considered as fruit for all ages of people from infants

to aged.

In certain parts of India, banana powder is used as baby food.

It has several medicinal virtues too.

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The fruits, florets and pseudostem are also used for

consumption after cooking.

Its leaves are commonly used for serving food in homes, many

hotels and restaurants.

Bananas can be also processed to purees, powder, flour, chips,

jam, jelly, wine, etc. attractive handicraft items like mats, carry

bags, etc. can be also made from the banana fibre.

Besides, the fibres can be also used for making paper pulp.

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