Banana and plantain

Banana is the third leading tropical fruit crop. Some 85% of what is produced is consumed locally, and it therefore plays a significant role in food security in the African, Latin American and Asian countries where it is grown. It is also the world's most exported fruit, and is economically and socially vital for producing and exporting countries, where it generates substantial revenue and is a major source of jobs, primarily in rural areas. CIRAD therefore works to help players in the banana and plantain value chains to innovate with a view to greater sustainability, including on a territory scale.

Books and documents

La transition agro-ecologique des agricultures du Sud, François-Xavier Cote, Emmanuelle Poirier-Magona, Sylvain Perret, Philippe Roudier, Bruno Rapidel, Marie-Cécile Thirion. Editions Quae, 2019
Le bananier plantain : enjeux socio-économiques et techniques, Moïse Kwa, Ludovic Temple (ed.). Editions Quæ, Agricultures tropicales en poche, 2019
Living territories to transform the world, Patrick Caron, Elodie Valette, Tom Wassenaar, Geo Coppens d’Eeckenbrugge, Vatché Papazian. Editions Quae, 2017
Développement durable et filières tropicales, Estelle Biénabe, Denis Loeillet, Alain Rival (ed.). Editions Quæ, 2016
FOCUS Banane : le guide du commerce international de la banane. Fruitrop (ed), 2016
Le bananier, un siècle d’innovations techniques, André Lassoudière. Editions Quæ, 2012
Le bananier, un enjeu mondial, André Lassoudière. Pour la Science, no. 400, February 2011
L’histoire du bananier, André Lassoudière. Editions Quæ, 2010
Le bananier et sa culture, André Lassoudière. Editions Quæ, 2007

Production guides

Recueil de fiches techniques sur la qualité de la banane. A set of five guides produced for the Association interprofessionnelle de la Banane (AIB), covering the various links in the banana value chain, from plot to market.
Download on the Fruitrop website
R&D and innovation guide on banana, presenting the main innovations from R&D and good practices in the French West Indies for growing bananas following research carried out by CIRAD and co-constructed with the Tropical Technical Institute (IT2) and Caribbean producer groups.
Download on the Fruitrop website
Plantain cultivation: training sheets, developed by CIRAD in collaboration with the African Center for Research on Bananas and Plantains (CARBAP) and the Cameroon Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD) as a means of sensitizing farmers to the major issues for managing a plantain production field.
Download on the Fruitrop website
Guides for better banana production: ENDURE, 2010
Download on the ENDURE website
Banana statistical compendium 2019 for the Office de développement de l'économie agricole d'outre-mer (ODEADOM)
Download on the Fruitrop website

Journals

FruiTrop

Quarterly journal published by the CIRAD Market News Service, intended for professionals from the international tropical fruit and vegetable sector (banana, avocado, citrus, pineapple, etc). Available in English and French, in hard copy or online versions.
FruiTrop website