Historically bananas have been traced to South East Asia, mainly India. It is reported that they were taken to the West by Arab conquerors in 327 BC and from Asia to Africa and eventually by first explorers and missionaries to the Caribbean. The mass production of bananas started in 1880’s.
Banana is globally an important source of food with annual production being 130 million tons. India is the largest producer in the world with almost 30 million tons. However the international banana trade is dominated by Latin American countries. For some large producers such as India and Brazil, their production has largely been for their domestic markets.
Top Ten Banana Producing Countries in the World
TOP 10 BANANA PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD (2011) | |
COUNTRY | PRODUCTION (MILLION OF TONNES) |
India | 29.7 |
Uganda | 11.1 |
China | 10.7 |
Phillipines | 9.2 |
Ecuador | 8.0 |
Brazil | 7.3 |
Indonesia | 6.1 |
Columbia | 5.1 |
Cameroon | 4.8 |
Tanzania | 3.9 |