Page 34 - Ecuador's Banana Sector under Climate Change

ecuador’s banana sector under climate change: an economic and biophysical assessment to promote a sustainable and climate-compatible strategy
Consequently, pest control with agrochemicals has become the cornerstone of modern commercial banana production, creating critically adverse environmental effects.
Among the key diseases that currently inflict the banana are Black Sigatoka (BS), Fusarium wilt and parasitic nematode infestations. The most severe of these is BS (Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet), a fungal disorder that decreases photosynthesis, reduces the size of the fruit and induces a premature maturation, thus lowering yields and resulting in the rejection of fruit to be exported (FAO, 2003). In Ecuador, banana plantations have been affected by BS since the late 1980s. In 2012, the outbreak was particularly severe, made worse by the heavy rains of April and May and the presence of many abandoned plantations in Los Rios and Guayas. Over 70 000 hectares (ha) were affected by the outbreak (LACENA) in economic terms.
2.2 Evolution of the banana industry in Ecuador
The banana industry prospered in Ecuador after World War II and replaced the cocoa industry after its demise in the 1920s.2 In 1948, President Galo Plaza initiated a development programme to foster banana growing, which included government agricultural credits; the construction of ports and a coastal highway; price regulation; and assistance for the control of banana disease. Aided by
an ideal climate for banana crops, Ecuador rapidly caught up with the rest of Central America, the dominant banana producing region during prewar years.
In addition to government support and significantly lower labour wages, the positive environmental factors – such as the absence of hurricanes, cyclones, and disease, common in Central America – worked in Ecuador’s favour. By 1952, Ecuador had become the world’s largest exporter of bananas and by 1964, the country had reached 25 percent of global banana exports, more than all Central American banana-producing countries combined (Maldonado, 1987).
Until the 1960s, the principal type of banana produced for export was the Gros Michel. This variety was grown under intensive but shifting cultivation
with very low productivity (approximately 20 tonnes per ha), a high level of deforestation and low use of agrochemicals. The Gros Michel variety was almost entirely destroyed in the late 1960s by an outbreak of Fusarium wilt, known as the Panama disease, and was replaced by the Cavendish variety. The latter was more resistant to the Panama disease and to hurricanes, although more susceptible
to damage when handling (FAO, 2003). The introduction of the Cavendish type required that the bananas be packed in boxes (as opposed to stem-hung below deck). While the adoption of this variety was rapid in Central America, it soon became the dominant type of banana worldwide. In any event, after only ten years, the Cavendish banana fell prey to a new disease – BS, which has become more aggressive and has caused substantial damage over the years.
The bananas that are produced in developing countries with a tropical climate are mainly exported to and consumed in the high-income countries of the Northern Hemisphere. This makes commercial export an integral part of the
Banco Central del Ecuador (1992).
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