Agriculture and Environment: Bananas

Introduction

The banana industry is faced with severe problems managing its impacts on habitat, soil, and water.

The risks associated with continuing the current practices are serious.

Land is being converted from forests; soils are being degraded beyond sustainable use; pesticides are accumulating in the environment; and rivers, streams, and coastal wetlands are being polluted.

The Conservation Agriculture Network's "Standards for Banana Production" (2001) are a good start in the development of certification standards that will result in better management practices on the ground.

A number of key, immediately practicable better practices are discussed in this section. More documentation and analysis are required to induce other producers to adopt these or similar practices or to discover their own ways of reducing impacts to more acceptable levels.