ADVANCES ON THE BRAZILIAN BANANA CROP

Since the beginning of the last century the Brazilian banana crop pass by a transformation generated by the export trade from the coast of Sao Paulo State to the Latin and European market. Achievements from the Agriculture Department of Sao Paulo State allowed changes from the semi-extraction system for a modern banana production, involving practices such as: crop and fertilization management and also disease and plagues control. In the 1950's the Agronomic Institute (Instituto Agronomico) and the Biological Institute (Instituto Biologico), both from Sao Paulo State increased the banana crop research. On the 1970's with the establishment of the Fruit-Crops Brazilian Society (Sociedade rasileira e Fruticultura), Embrapa Research, and the progress attained by the National Research Center of Cassava and Fruit-crops (Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Mandioca e Fruticultura), the several State Research Centers and the universities permit important improvements for the national banana production. Moreover, the official and private extension services, the private corporations and the irrigation projects at the Brazilian semi-arid, increased significantly the banana cultivation areas using most technological methodologies. The two last decades the number of grower associations raised, and with better organization they implemented and improved the available technologies with technician support. On this paper statistical data and crop techniques available for the Brazilian banana crop are described with emphasis on the selection of new genotypes. Good agricultural practices such as seedling, pre- and pos-harvesting management, plant protection strategies and alternative cultivation systems are also demonstrated.