Agriculture and Environment: Bananas

Environmental Impacts of Production: Water usage

The average water requirement for a mature banana crop is approximately 160 millimetres a month.

In some countries this amount is exceeded seven months of the year as a result of rainfall.

During the rainy season in some areas, more than a metre of water in excess of what bananas need must be drained from the fields. It is in this water that a lot of suspended solids and agrochemicals become part of the runoff.

In addition, a tremendous amount of water is used in the processing plants, where the bananas are floated prior to selecting and boxing them for export.

Up to one hundred times the volume or weight of the bananas in water is used during the process of washing, selecting, and packaging bananas.