Sources and Further Reading
Where these numbers come from, and how to check them against your own region.
This knowledge base is written as **general agronomic guidance for Musa spp.** It is not a substitute for local extension advice, a laboratory report, or the label on a crop-protection product. This page sets out the bodies and literature the guidance is consistent with, and — more usefully — how to check any figure before you spend money on it.
International organisations and programmes#
| Body | What they publish | Where |
|---|---|---|
| FAO — Banana and Plantain programme | Global statistics, sustainable production guides, best-practice dossiers | fao.org/bananas |
| FAOSTAT | Production, trade and price series by country | fao.org/faostat |
| World Banana Forum | Multi-stakeholder sustainability resources, cost-of-production studies | worldbananaforum.org |
| ProMusa | The definitive open banana cultivar and knowledge wiki — cultivar names, taxonomy, disease listings | promusa.org |
| The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT | Musa genetic resources, conservation and use, breeding programmes | Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (formerly Bioversity International and CIAT, with INIBAP) |
| CABI | Peer-reviewed encyclopaedias and data sheets on banana pests and diseases | cabi.org |
| WorldVeg (AVRDC) | Vegetable and tropical horticulture systems work, including banana-based systems | World Vegetable Center |
ProMusa and the FAO banana pages are the two fastest places to settle a factual question — cultivar synonyms, disease distribution and global production data in particular.
Standards and regulation#
| Standard | Relevance |
|---|---|
| Codex Alimentarius (codexalimentarius.org) | International food standards, including hygienic practice and maximum residue limits for fruit |
| IPPC (ippc.int) | International phytosanitary standards that govern movement of planting material and fruit |
| GLOBALG.A.P. (globalgap.org) | The most widely required farm-assurance standard for export bananas |
| National pesticide registers | Always the legal authority for what you may apply, at what rate, and the pre-harvest interval |
| Destination-market MRL lists | Residue limits differ between the EU, Japan, the US and other markets — check the one you actually sell into |
Where this site says "use a registered product" or "follow the label", that is deliberate: the label is a legal document and the only rate that is legally yours to apply.
Journals and serials#
Useful for digging past general guidance into trial data:
- Experimental Agriculture — cropping systems and smallholder agronomy trials, frequently banana and plantain.
- Scientia Horticulturae — physiology, nutrition and post-harvest work.
- Postharvest Biology and Technology — ripening, storage, cold-chain and processing.
- Crop Protection / Plant Disease — pathogen and pest management, including resistance monitoring.
- Acta Horticulturae (ISHS, ishs.org) — the proceedings series where a great deal of banana horticultural research is first reported.
- Food Chemistry / LWT — Food Science and Technology — flour, resistant starch and processing parameters.
Reference works#
- **Jones, D.R. (ed.), *Diseases of Banana, Plantain and Abaca*** — CABI. The standard comprehensive treatment of banana pathology; the source most symptom and pathogen descriptions ultimately trace back to.
- Ploetz, R.C. — multiple reviews on banana production, Fusarium wilt and the history of the crop, including the Gros Michel and TR4 stories.
- Escalante, Karamura and Dolezel — works on Musa conservation, germplasm and genetic resources under the Bioversity/INIBAP umbrella.
- Regional production manuals from national ministries of agriculture and universities — usually the best single document for your district, because the varieties, pests and legal requirements are local.
Titles and editions should be re-checked against a library catalogue before citing them formally.
Data for your own calculations#
| Need | Source |
|---|---|
| Reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) | Your national meteorological service; FAO-59 Crop Evapotranspiration methodology |
| Rainfall and climate normals | World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal; national meteorological service |
| Production and price statistics | FAOSTAT; national statistics offices |
| Soil interpretation bands | Your own laboratory's calibration — not a table on a website |
| Fertiliser and amendment rates | Soil/tissue test plus a qualified agronomist |
| Registration, rates and PHI | National pesticide register and the product label |
Your regional extension service#
The single most valuable source is the one specific to your district: a government extension officer, a university horticulture faculty, a growers' association, or a producer organisation. They will tell you which clone performs locally, which diseases are present, what is registered, and what price structure actually exists — none of which general guidance can.
If you belong to a certification scheme, your auditor and technical manager are also a legitimate and under-used source of advice.
How to verify anything on this site#
What this site is and is not#
Is: a structured, cross-referenced overview of banana production practice, with calculators for the arithmetic that growers actually need, written so you know what to look up and in what order.
Is not: a certified agronomic recommendation, a legal interpretation of any regulation, a substitute for a soil test, or a region-specific production plan.
For anything with regulatory or safety consequences — residues, food processing, water discharge, labour law — always defer to the competent local authority.
Next steps#
- Apply the verification habit: Troubleshooting · Nutrition · Integrated pest management
- Test your own numbers: Soil test interpreter · Farm budget calculator
- Read the standing disclaimer in Banana farming 101