History, Economic Significance and Origin of Bananas

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A banana is an edible fruit produced by different kinds of herbaceous flowering plants. The scientific name for the banana is Musa Acuminata. It belongs to the Musaceae Paradisiaca family and the group of monocots. The most common name is banana, but they can be also called edible banana. The objective of this report is for the audience to understand the history, economic significance, where it originated, and the current distribution of the banana.

Bananas were originally found in Southeast Asia, mainly in India. They were brought to the west later on by Arab conquerors in 327 B.C. The banana moved from Asia to Africa carried by the first explores and missionaries to the Caribbean. Bananas eventually made it to South America with the help of Portuguese mariners. The mariners brought the plant from the West African coast. In today’s world, bananas are the most popular fruit. They are also the world’s most important crops grown by small and large-scale producers. Bananas are basically giant herbaceous plants rather than trees. They’re about 50 species in the Musa genus. The genus is split into three to five sections depending on the number of chromosomes in each plant. Furthermore, over a thousand different types cultivators of bananas and plantains are recognized today.

The economic significance of bananas consists of two factors: generations of export earnings and employment for people in several countries. Currently, small populations of bananas are produced in the United States. Within the fifty states, they’re only two states that produce bananas. Hawaii is the largest producer in the United States, followed by Florida. Banana production in Hawaii totaled to 14,500 in 2000 and 14,000 in 2001. The average production cost i...

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...ns while the Philippines produces about a half million tons. Both are mainly exported to Japan. In the tropics of Africa, close to nine million tons of bananas are grown. Larges quantities are usually shipped to Europe. In the American region, banana exports have decreased. From 1979-1980, there was an average of eighty percent but number decreased to seventy percent in the 2000s. During the same time South America was the only country progressing by increasing from twenty-eight percent to forty percent. Banana imports are moderately concentrated. The main import areas are Europe, United States, and Japan. Together, all three countries are accounted for at least seventy percent of the world’s import. Banana imports have drastically had an incredible rate of growth in the past few decades.

Works Cited

http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/docs/hibananas.html

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