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Organic Profile of Banana

BananaBanana (Musa paradisiaca L.) is most popular and main fruit in the international trade. It is producing about 130 countries in the world and India, Ecuador, Brazil and China alone producing half of total bananas. Around 98 per cent of banana production is grown in developing countries.

Nutrition Facts

BananaBananas are delicious eaten with one's fingers after peeling off the skin. Depending on the type of banana unripe bananas are also cooked, fried or deep-fried a lot. Bananas are the basic food in many tropical countries. A banana contains Vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and three natural sugars, sucrose, fructose and glucose along with fiber. A banana thus gives an instant and substantial boost of energy. No other fruit contain more digestible carbohydrates than bananas. This is advantageous because, the body burns off calories from carbohydrate more easily and quickly than calories from fat or protein. Bananas do not contain sodium, fat or cholesterol.

Indian Scenario

In India, Banana occupies around 4,91,000 hectares, mainly in Tamil Nadu, Kerela, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra and Gujrat. India is the largest producer (approximately 16,850,000 mt/year) and consumer of banana in the world. Of the total fruits production in India, Banana is the most cultivated fruit with a share of 33 per cent. Domestic production of India is distributed through out the year which exceeds the entire world trade. It contributes more than 2.8 per cent to GDP of agriculture in India.

Banana varieties and harvesting period of the major producing states of India

Banana      

Trade

Banana exports make up just 13 per cent of world production. Bananas are imported mainly by the European Union, the United States of America and Japan, which together accounted for about 70 per cent of world total imports. Bananas are not grown commercially in the continental United States. They are grown in Latin and South America from countries like Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Panama and Guatemala. Only Latin America and the Caribbean countries supplying more than 80 per cent of total exports. The leading banana exporter countries are Ecuador, Costa Rica, Philippines and Colombia accounted for about two third of world exports and only about one fifth of total banana production is internationally traded.
Traditionally, banana imports to the EU have been originated from three different sources: first, national production from Spain (Canary Islands), France (Guadeloupe and Martinique), Greece and Portugal; secondly, ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries exports, which have been granted preferential access to the European market under the Lom� Convention and later the Cotonou Agreement; and Central American and South American bananas which provided mainly free (or open) market countries such as Germany.
In India, local traders are largely dominated and they purchase the produce at farm itself and dispatch to distant markets at their cost and risk. When the banana is matured local pre harvest contractors negotiate with the farmer and fixing the price and traders will give advance payments before harvesting. Usually commission agents or wholesalers finance contractors, so they are obliged to sell the produce through the leading commission agents/ wholesaler. The commission agents are located in both the production and consuming centers. Goods are dispatched to the commission agent for the sales where rate is not confirmed. Commission agent will sale the goods deduct all expenses, transportation and 5 to 6%. Transportation charges borne by buyer. In this type buyer�s person is there at the time of harvesting, loading for confirming quality and for better handling. Banana