Origin and production of the banana, cambur, or plantain.

So says a riddle with which I grew up in my country, Venezuela, where the "banana" is a food that is of daily use that I could not miss at the table of every Venezuelan family, especially when it includes some kind of meat. Considered a fruit that has more than a thousand varieties, the plantain is an exception to the rule of fruits, since it has no seeds, it is considered a sterile hybrid product of the crossing of wild varieties that do have seeds. The inner dots that are observed in the fruit when cut are traces of what at some point were seeds.

For the "International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), "the banana varieties most commonly used today do not produce seeds and their fruits are botanically called parthenocarpic", that is, "virginal" fruit that does not produce seeds.

Fuente

Banana production:

Unfortunately, for environmentalists, banana plantations have been located in places where the native species of the area have been deforested as well as forested extensions whose soil is not suitable for this type of crop so it requires in the process large amounts of land to compensate for a possible drop in production due to the low fertility and productivity of the soils, however, these soils have a high organic content and do not require further attention, so they are perfectly adaptable for the required purposes.

Bananas and plantains are perennial species that reproduce quickly and can be harvested throughout the year. It is estimated that by the year 2000, 9 million hectares were cultivated, so it can be estimated that 92 million tons were obtained and by 2021, 99 million worldwide.
These are only approximate, since most of the production comes from family gardens and is destined for self-consumption.

Bananas are divided into two categories, for cooking and for sweets.

It is estimated that world banana production has grown in recent years and specifically in Latin America the cultivation of this fruit is produced in several countries which positions this continent as a major world producer. In economic terms, this item has been positioned since 1950 thanks to increased demand from northern countries and Europe. "Bananas are a commodity, and like almost all commodities produced in the South and consumed in the North, more than 90% of the price paid by the consumer stays in the North and never reaches the producer."

Fuente

A reality that is repeated in almost all areas due to the lack of policies that really allow for a better distribution of profits among small and medium-sized producers.

The cheap labor force and the availability of land as well as the climate favored the crop, allowing this fruit to have a greater development in South America. The largest producers are Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, among others. Ecuador currently exports an average of 5 thousand boxes, equivalent to 130 thousand hectares.
This production is governed by the requested standards going through several processes, which we can mention:

• Sowing
• Weeding
• Molasses control
• Preventive quality work
• Timely protection of the bunch.

Subsequently, the following steps are carried out during packing:

• Desmane
• Sorting
• Garnishing
• Weighing
• Placement of labels
• Packing of the fruit

In Venezuela, banana production has also increased in recent years despite being affected by the proliferation of "crop thieves" who take the "bunches" very green and underdeveloped, damaging the small producer who has had to reduce the hectares of cultivation to have more control of the planting, but the industrial producer has had greater possibilities to solve these situations, in addition to the fact that his product is for export while that of the small producer competes on a national scale.

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By @hojaraskita