Broad overview of the subtropical banana industry

Bananas are cultivated in different countries in the subtropics, including Australia, southern Brazil, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Portugal (Madeira and Azores), South Africa, Spain (Canary Islands) and Turkey. Despite climatic constraints which cause undesirable physiological effects and long cropping cycles, subtropical banana yields can be quite high. Although 'Grand Nain' is the cultivar most planted in the subtropics, 'Williams' and some Dwarf Cavendish clones, like 'Gruesa', a Canary Islands selection, are also planted. Climatic constraints and water scarcity have led to protected cultivation of bananas, particularly in Morocco, Canary Islands, Turkey and more recently in Israel where all new plantings are established in greenhouses. Management of pests and diseases is generally easier and cheaper compared with the tropics, due to the limiting effect of low temperatures and humidity on pest and pathogen activities. Most of the subtropical belt is free of black leaf streak (Pseudocercospora fijiensis) and the burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis), although the incidence of Fusarium wilt and, particularly, the rapid spread of tropical race 4 (TR4) is a serious concern for the future. Although proximity to the market is an advantage for subtropical countries like Israel, Turkey or Morocco which sell their bananas locally, market difficulties are present for Canary Islands or Madeira which export their fruits to the Iberian Peninsula where they face the market competition of the so-called 'dollar bananas' arriving from Latin American countries. The actual importance of and future prospects for developing banana in the subtropics are analyzed in this paper.