Bananas – second fastest expanding organic crop

Banana production is becoming ever more sustainable, as demonstrated by the sharp increase in production areas being certified. After cotton, bananas were the crop that experienced the highest growth rate of certified area between 2011 and 2015. In 2015, a minimum of 290,000 ha and a maximum of 451,000 ha (an average of 371,000 ha) was certified. In terms of the proportion of the VSS-certified area of the global banana area, the minimum represents 5.4%, the maximum 8.4%, and the average 6.9%. With more than 248,000 hectares, GLOBALG.A.P. had by far the largest VSS-certified banana area in 2015; the area with the highest growth (42%) in 2012–2015 was that of RA/SAN.

In 2015, organic bananas represented almost 1% of the global banana production area, or almost 53,000 ha. An estimated 1.1 million tons were produced in 2015 – 0.9% of the world’s banana production. The largest organic banana-producers were the Dominican Republic (22,800 ha), Ecuador (11,850 ha), the Philippines (8,900 ha), Peru (4,900 ha) and Costa Rica (1,900 ha). Combined these countries accounted for nearly 96% of the world’s organic banana growing area. Between 2012 and 2015, the organic banana production area has expanded by almost 12%, while between 2014 and 2015 it grew by 1%.