Banana industry

The banana industry is an important part of the global industrial agrobusiness. Most bananas go into export and international trade for consumption in Western countries. They are grown on banana plantations primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Central and South America.

As is the case with all monocultures, the intensive agroindustrial methods - bananas require large amounts of pesticides (estimate: 35 pounds (16 kg) / 1 acre (0.40 ha)) - for banana production have considerable environmental impact up to ecosystem destruction through deforestation. Moreover, global transport and plastic packaging leaves a large carbon footprint.

In 2012 the volume of global gross banana exports reached a record high of 16.5 million metric tons (3.6×10¹⁰ lb), 1.1 million tonnes (or 7.3 percent) above 2011 level. Bananas are the most popular fruit in the United States, with more consumed annually than apples and oranges combined. In spite of the multitude of banana species across the world, even only taking into account the cultivated ones, industrial production is dominated by the Cavendish banana.

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