Page 41 - Ecuador's Banana Sector under Climate Change

chapter 2: economic and policy analysis of the banana sector in ecuador and implications for social and environmental sustainability
3.1.3 Banana yields
Table 2 shows Ecuador’s average banana yields for 2012 by farm size. Small farms (less than 30 ha) average 28.9 MT/ha and rise to 38.5 MT/ha for medium farms (from 30-100 ha) and 57.7 MT/ha for larger plantations (over 100 ha). The national yield average for Ecuador in 2012 was 31.7 MT/ha. This average is much lower compared to Costa Rica, which averaged 46.9 MT/ha in 2012 (according to Corporación Bananera Nacional of Costa Rica). In Ecuador, the lower national average reflects the prominence of small-scale farmers, while in Costa Rica it is a reflection of the dominance of large-scale plantations. The low average yields of small-scale plantations in Ecuador are a result of a lack
of investment in improved technologies, as well as a consequence of their insecure and variable income due to often selling products on the spot market and being subject to market price variability. This is due, in part, to the weak position of small-scale plantations in terms of price bargaining, with the much stronger exporters better able to offer lower prices. Lower and variable income, in turn, reduces the incentives for re-investment in productivity-enhancing technologies.
Banana yield trends over the years demonstrate a steady increase, except
in 2012 when the yield dropped because of a heavy infestation of BS (Figure 7). When comparing Ecuador to its competitors, it is clear that Costa Rica has witnessed a dramatic improvement in yields over time, reaching a peak in 1990, followed by a drop during the 1990s and a recovery since 2000, fluctuating at approximately an average of 50 MT/ha. The Philippines, another major banana exporter in Asia, has also experienced a steady yield increase - although from
a lower starting point - reaching 20 MT/ha in 2012. By contrast, Colombia’s banana yields have been steadily eroding ever since their peak in the early 1980s (approximately 50 MT/ha) and dropping to 25 MT/ha by 2012.
Figure 7 Banana yield trends in Ecuador and other major exporters, 1961-2012
70 60 50 40 30 20 10
0
Philippines
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Source: FAOSTAT
25
1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012