ABSTRACT
Bananas are considered the fourth most important food crop in the world, after the three main cereals rice, wheat, and corn (Fouré and Tezenas, 1999). World production statistics are not very accurate, as in many countries bananas are produced in home gardens or small plots that often escape the reporting. Table 27.1 presents some 1999 data from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) adapted from M. Rieger’s Web page (Rieger 2002) and the World Bank
(the figures after the slashes in Table 27.1). For many years
fresh bananas
have had the highest per capita consumption of any fresh fruit in the U.S.. They displaced apples in the early 1990’s. In the tropical countries of all continents, bananas have been a staple food for centuries, with high per capita consumptions. (Von Loesecke, 1950). The seedless bananas consumed today in the industrialized countries are the result of long painstaking selection and breeding, some done by our primitive ancestors. Until a few years ago banana seeds from seminal varieties were used in breeding. Tissue culture is widely used at present to improve the varieties. Dr. Phil Rowe in Honduras introduced several varieties and subvarieties before his untimely death in 2000 (Rowe and Rosales, 1992).
