The main banana producer in the world is India. With 748,100 hectares and 26,996,600 of tons produced, it has become the leader in the global banana industry. It has been observed that although some nations have more plantations than others, they produce in less tons per year, so their productivity is lower. This is the case of The Republic of Tanzania, although this is the second nation with more banana plantations in the world, in terms of productivity it is overtaken by nations such as Philippines, China, Ecuador and Brazil.
As for the Latin American banana producing countries, although Brazil has 479,614 hectares of plantations (up to 2011), it is overtaken by Ecuador in productivity. Ecuador with half the area planted is able to produce more than Brazil, 7,637,320 tons of Ecuadorian bananas were produced in 2011 while Brazil produced 6,783,460 tons.Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras are the following nations in order of importance with increased productivity in their banana plantations. 2,544,240 tons, 2,365,470 tons, 2,365,470 tons, 2,020,390 tons and 690,625 tons respectively.
It should be noted that although Guatemala has no large areas to cultivate (59,391 acres) it exceeds nations like Mexico and Colombia which have greater production areas.There are several reasons why some nations achieve greater productivity in their plantations than others. Variable weather, good control of pests and diseases and being able not to waste fruit, make a difference.