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	==References==

	*FAO. , 2004

	*Denham, T., Haberle, S. G., Lentfer, C., Fullagar, R., Field, J., Porch, N., Therin, M., Winsborough B., and Golson, J. Multi-disciplinary Evidence for the Origins of Agriculture from 6950-6440 Cal BP at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of New Guinea. ''Science'', June 2003 issue.

	* Skidmore, T., Smith, P. - ''Modern Latin America'' (5th edition), (2001) New York: Oxford University Press)

	* {{cite journal \| author=Editors \| title=Banana fiber rugs \| journal=] \| year=2006 \| volume=6 \| issue=7 \| pages= 44}} Brief mention of banana fibre rugs
			INDEX OF TOPICS





			School Calendar
			October 2006
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			Administration and Leadership
			Call Center—
			Centro Telefónico One-stop phone help in English and Spanish




			Tue, October 10, 10 a.m.
			All-day Business Meeting
			Mon, October 23, 7 p.m.
			Evening Business Meeting

			BOE Web Site \| Meetings \| Policies





			Our Call to Action:
			Raise standards for all students and close the achievement gap by race and ethnicity. More

			Superintendent's Web Site




			Staff Directory Wins 2005 Award of Excellence NSPRA, Chesapeake Chapter
			More awards

			Web Visitor Survey




			Saturday School Celebrates 20 Years of Service

			Motivated and confident students. Higher test scores. Students achieving on or above grade level and ready for more. These are some of the achievements that can be attributed to the George B. Thomas, Sr. Learning Academy (more commonly known as Saturday School), which has been serving students in Montgomery County for 20 years. The tutoring and mentoring program has grown from 19 students and 21 volunteer tutors when it opened in 1986 to more than 3,500 students at 12 centers located throughout the county.

			Weekly News:
			Bulletin (380K PDF)
			Watch: Broadband \| Dial-Up (Real Media)

			Parents and students gathered last spring to celebrate another successful year at the George B. Thomas, Sr. Learning Academy.

			List of Information in Other Languages Link to us




			How To Talk To Your Children About Tragic Events
			Your child may have questions about the recent school tragedies. Learn how to talk to them about their feelings and how to reassure them.

			Attend Financial Aid Workshops
			Learn more about financial aid opportunities during free workshops offered at many high schools.

			National Baldrige Award Team to Visit MCPS
			MCPS one of 12 organizations to receive site visits for the prestigious award. Story in The Bulletin \| Baldrige web site

			School Boundary Maps for 2006-07 Available
			Sets cost $30 and may be purchased in the Public Information Office or from the Division of Long Range Planning.

			New Grading & Reporting Information
			New documents outline for parents the standards-based grading and reporting system.

			Keep Informed with QuickNotes
			Sign-up for update and emergency information by e-mail.
			Current Issue \| Edición corriente \| More languages

			Fall Athletics Schedules Now Online
			Search the database to find out when your team plays.

			Web Site Celebrates Historic African American School
			Find out about George Washington Carver High School and Junior College (now Carver Educational Services Center).





			Channel 34 Schedule
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			Homework Hotline
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			MCPS Moment: Rockville HS implements the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

			Broadband Dial-Up
			(00:01:37 Real)




			Meeting Set on Special Education Services


			Board Tentatively Approves School Naming Policy


			Free Flu Clinics Are Set for Children Ages 5 to 11


			Northwest HS Principal Receives Mann Award


			More Fifth Grade Students Take Accelerated Math


			HS Students Benefit from University Partnership


			Weast Sends Safety Letter to Families and Staff



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			Modified October 13, 2006 by Web Services \| Department of Communications


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	==See also==		==See also==

Revision as of 18:08, 13 October 2006

For other uses, see Banana (disambiguation).

Banana

Banana plant
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Musaceae
Genus:	Musa
Species
Hybrid origin; see text

Banana is the common name used for herbaceous plants in the genus Musa, which because of their size and structure, are often mistaken for trees. Bananas are cultivated for their fruit which bear the same name, and to a lesser extent as ornamental plants. Bananas are of the family Musaceae. Globally, bananas rank fourth after rice, wheat and maize in human consumption; they are grown in 130 countries worldwide, more than any other fruit crop. Bananas are native to tropical southeastern Asia but are widely cultivated in tropical regions. In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to the soft, sweet "dessert" bananas that are usually eaten raw. The bananas from a group of cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit, generally used in cooking rather than eaten raw, are typically known as plantains.

The main or upright growth is called a pseudostem, which, when mature, will obtain a height of 2–8 m (varies between different cultivars), with leaves of up to 3.5 m in length. Each pseudostem produces a single bunch of bananas, before dying and being replaced by a new pseudostem. The base of the plant is a rhizome (known as a corm). Corms are perennial, with a productive lifespan of 15 years or more.

The term banana is applied to both the plant and its elongated fruit (technically a false berry) which grow in hanging clusters, with up to 20 fruit to a tier (called a hand), and 5-20 tiers to a bunch. The total of the hanging clusters is known as a bunch, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kg. The fruit averages 125 g, of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter content. Bananas are a valuable source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and potassium.

Although the wild species have fruits with numerous large, hard seeds, virtually all culinary bananas have seedless fruits. Bananas are classified either as dessert bananas (meaning they are yellow and fully ripe when eaten) or as green cooking bananas. Almost all export bananas are of the dessert types; however, only about 10-15% of all production is for export, with the U.S. and EU being the dominant buyers.

History

The domestication of bananas took place in southeastern Asia. Many species of wild bananas still occur in New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence at Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least 5000 BC, and possibly to 8000 BC. This would make the New Guinean highlands the place where bananas were first domesticated. It is likely that other species of wild bananas were later also domesticated elsewhere in southeastern Asia.

The banana is mentioned for the first time in written history in Buddhist texts in 600 BC. Alexander the Great discovered the taste of the banana in the valleys of India in 327 BC. The existence of an organized banana plantation could be found in China in 200 AD. In 650 AD, Islamic conquerors brought the banana to Palestine. Arab merchants eventually spread bananas over much of Africa. The word banana is of West African origin, and passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.

In 15th and 16th century, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa. As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available via merchant trade. Jules Verne references bananas with detailed descriptions so as not to confuse readers in his book Around the World in Eighty Days (1872).

Cultivation

File:Bananacorms.jpg

Banana Corms

While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, triploid (and thus seedless) cultivars have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots of the plant. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time; a larger one for fruiting immediately and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" that will produce fruit in 6–8 months time. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates. Latin Americans sometimes comment that the plants are "walking" over time.

Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. Lacking seeds, another form of propagation is required. This involves removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm). Usually this is done by carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot that develops from the base of the banana pseudostem) with some roots intact. However, small sympodial corms, representing not yet elongated suckers, are harder to transplant and can be left out of the ground for up to 2 weeks; they require minimal care and can be boxed together for shipment.

In some countries, bananas are commercially propagated by means of tissue culture. This method is preferred since it ensures disease-free planting material. When using vegetative parts such as suckers for propagation, there is a risk of transmitting diseases (especially the devastating Panama disease).

INDEX OF TOPICS

School Calendar

October 2006 Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

 How To Enroll  
 Jobs: Work With Us  
 School Calendar  
 Inquiries and Complaints  
 Curriculum  
 Homework Help  
 Most Requested  
 Parent Guide  
 Board of Education  
 Emergency

Information

 Contact Us  
 Administration and Leadership  
 Call Center—

Centro Telefónico One-stop phone help in English and Spanish

Tue, October 10, 10 a.m. All-day Business Meeting Mon, October 23, 7 p.m. Evening Business Meeting

BOE Web Site | Meetings | Policies

Our Call to Action: Raise standards for all students and close the achievement gap by race and ethnicity. More

Superintendent's Web Site

  Staff Directory Wins 2005 Award of Excellence NSPRA, Chesapeake Chapter

More awards

Web Visitor Survey

Saturday School Celebrates 20 Years of Service

 Motivated and confident students. Higher test scores. Students achieving on or above grade level and ready for more. These are some of the achievements that can be attributed to the George B. Thomas, Sr. Learning Academy (more commonly known as Saturday School), which has been serving students in Montgomery County for 20 years. The tutoring and mentoring program has grown from 19 students and 21 volunteer tutors when it opened in 1986 to more than 3,500 students at 12 centers located throughout the county.

Weekly News: Bulletin (380K PDF) Watch: Broadband | Dial-Up (Real Media)

Parents and students gathered last spring to celebrate another successful year at the George B. Thomas, Sr. Learning Academy.

List of Information in Other Languages Link to us

How To Talk To Your Children About Tragic Events Your child may have questions about the recent school tragedies. Learn how to talk to them about their feelings and how to reassure them.

Attend Financial Aid Workshops Learn more about financial aid opportunities during free workshops offered at many high schools.

National Baldrige Award Team to Visit MCPS MCPS one of 12 organizations to receive site visits for the prestigious award. Story in The Bulletin | Baldrige web site

School Boundary Maps for 2006-07 Available Sets cost $30 and may be purchased in the Public Information Office or from the Division of Long Range Planning.

New Grading & Reporting Information New documents outline for parents the standards-based grading and reporting system.

Keep Informed with QuickNotes Sign-up for update and emergency information by e-mail. Current Issue | Edición corriente | More languages

Fall Athletics Schedules Now Online Search the database to find out when your team plays.

Web Site Celebrates Historic African American School Find out about George Washington Carver High School and Junior College (now Carver Educational Services Center).

Channel 34 Schedule News and Information

Channel 33 Schedule: Supporting the curriculum

Homework Hotline Instructional Television (ITV)

MCPS Moment: Rockville HS implements the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

Broadband Dial-Up (00:01:37 Real)

Meeting Set on Special Education Services

Board Tentatively Approves School Naming Policy

Free Flu Clinics Are Set for Children Ages 5 to 11

Northwest HS Principal Receives Mann Award

More Fifth Grade Students Take Accelerated Math

HS Students Benefit from University Partnership

Weast Sends Safety Letter to Families and Staff

more...

Modified October 13, 2006 by Web Services | Department of Communications 
HOME | PARENTS | STUDENTS | STAFF | ABOUT | SCHOOLS | COMMUNITY | BACK TO TOP  
©1995–2006 Montgomery County Public Schools, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850 
Contact | Privacy | Nondiscrimination/ADA | Get Acrobat | Get RealPlayer | Montgomery County

Effects of banana diseases in East Africa

File:FHIA-17.jpg

Tanzanian farmers with 92 kg (200 lb) bunch of FHIA-17 bananas.

Most bananas grown worldwide are used for local consumption. In the tropics, bananas, especially cooking bananas, represent a major source of food, as well as a major source of income for smallholder farmers. It is in the East African highlands that bananas reach their greatest importance as a staple food crop. In countries such as Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda per capita consumption has been estimated at 450 kg per year, the highest in the world. Ugandans use the same word "matooke" to describe both banana and food.

In the past, the banana was a highly sustainable crop with a long plantation life and stable yields year round. However with the arrival of the Black Sigatoka fungus, banana production in eastern Africa has fallen by over 40%. For example during the 1970s, Uganda produced 15 to 20 tonnes of bananas per hectare. Today production has fallen to only 6 tonnes per hectare.

The situation has started to improve as new disease resistant cultivars have been developed such as the FHIA-17 (known in Uganda as the Kabana 3). These new cultivars taste different from the traditionally grown banana which has slowed their acceptance by local farmers. However, by adding mulch and animal manure to the soil around the base of the banana plant, these new cultivars have substantially increased yields in the areas where they have been tried.

The Rockefeller Foundation has started trials for genetically modified banana plants that are resistant to both Black Sigatoka and banana weevils. It is developing cultivars specifically for smallholder or subsistence farmers.