Southeast Asian farmers first domesticated bananas. 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 BCE, and possibly to 8000 BCE.[1] It is likely that other species were later and independently domesticated elsewhere in southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is the region of primary diversity of the banana. Areas of secondary diversity are found in Africa, indicating a long history of banana cultivation in the region.
Phytolith discoveries in Cameroon dating to the first millennium BCE[23] triggered an as yet unresolved debate about the date of first cultivation in Africa. There is linguistic evidence that bananas were known in Madagascar around that time.[24] The earliest prior evidence indicates that cultivation dates to no earlier than late 6th century AD.[25] It is likely, however, that bananas were brought at least to Madagascar if not to the East African coast during the phase of Malagasy colonization of the island from South East Asia c400CE.[26]
Trade
| Top 10 banana producing nations (in million metric tons) |
|
|---|---|
 India* |
26.2 |
 Philippines |
9.0 |
 China |
8.2 |
 Ecuador |
7.6 |
 Brazil |
7.2 |
 Indonesia |
6.3 |
 Mexico* |
2.2 |
 Costa Rica |
2.1 |
 Colombia |
2.0 |
 Thailand |
1.5 |
| World Total | 95.6 |
| Source: 2009 data, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations[3] * Countries use 2008 FAO data |
|
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