Bananas and plantains in Latin America and the Caribbean: current state, challenges and perspectives

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), although not the center of origin of banana and plantain, grow 28% of the global production. Approximately 20 million tons (64% of production) are locally consumed and seven countries of the region are in the top ten banana exporting nations. In addition, 99% of exported plantains are produced in LAC. In spite of considerable technical change in recent decades in LAC, banana and plantain continue to face important challenges to the sector in general. Of overarching priority for the sector is strengthening quarantine procedures against Tropical Race 4 of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, Banana bunchy top virus, bacterial wilts and other pests and diseases not yet present in LAC. Climate change and rising costs for fertilizers, fossil fuels and pesticides are also relevant challenges. Opportunities for increased grower income and a greater contribution from banana and plantain to national economies are also constrained by an underinvested research and development system. Other threats and opportunities are specific to each of the five production systems commonly occurring: (1) tropical export Cavendish production - black leaf streak (BLS) and increasing strict environmental and worker safety regulations, (2) subtropical Cavendish production - abiotic stresses, (3) monoculture plantain - BLS and water deficit, (4) banana and plantain associated in coffee and cocoa fields - Fusarium wilt (FW) and deficient marketing; and (5) mixed and monocrop banana and plantains produced at small scale for home consumption or local markets - BLS and bacterial wilt. Some countries have specific cultivar preferences and challenges, such as Brazil ('Prata' - AAB) and Peru (Isla and Palillo - Pacific Islands AAB) where FW is a constraint. Collaborative regional knowledge platforms may offer increasing benefits, especially with more sophisticated electronic tools for knowledge sharing, identification of homologue and analogue zones, crop, climate and pest modeling, tools for the study of soil and root health and genomics. A greater focus of markets and value, chains is also emerging to link changes in production technology with improved marketing. (Résumé d'auteur