The Latin American country of Ecuador is one of the top banana exporters in the world, but the changing climate is pushing up costs and threatening both the quality and the yields of the fruit.

Inside a banana plantation in the coastal Guayas, a major banana producing province located in western Ecuador, growers are feeling the changes.

"As of August this year, we have conducted 18 rounds of fungicide sprays. In previous years, the number was about 19 or 20 rounds in the entire year," Manuel Lozano, a co-owner of the plantation, told China Media Group (CMG). 

Studies have shown that warmer temperatures and extreme weather events unleashed by climate change help fungi, such as the Tropical Race 4 spread, leading to deadly plant diseases that could bring devastating losses to farmers. It happened before: in the 1950s, the most popular banana variety by that time in Central and South America was nearly wiped out by Tropical Race 4, and later replaced by another variety.

As a result, more fungicide sprays are needed, raising the costs of growing banana. 

In the example of Lozano, whose plantation is about 200 hectares in size, the operation costs about $10,000 each time. The plantation has already used up almost the entire year's budget for fungicide, so every further operation this year will end up deducting from the profit from the sale of the fruits.

However, Lozano and other banana growers in Ecuador are also worried about something else.

Government forecasts show that coastal Ecuador will brace for heavy rains starting October under the influence of El Nino which disrupts normal weather patterns and leads to storms and droughts. 

Ecuador's Association of Banana Growers of El Oro has warned that the possible flooding could damage nearly 50,600 hectares of banana crop due to El Nino. 

In an earlier interview, Leonidas Estrada, president of the Regional Corporation of Ecuadorian Banana Growers, predicted a 25-percent drop in Ecuador's banana production due to this year's El Nino, which would translate to weekly losses of up to $17 million for the industry.

He called for precautions among local growers.

"They need to maintain their drainage and pumping system to discharge the floodwater right away. We must remember that the banana plants can be soaked for no more than 24 to 48 hours. Otherwise, the quality of the fruit goes down," he told CMG in an interview.

The prospect of a series of disasters triggered by El Nino, including landslides, waterlogging, and traffic blockades, further worries growers as uncertainties mount on whether the fruit can be shipped on time to the importers. The industry already suffered the cost spike in maritime freight shipment because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain interruptions caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, two countries that together consume around a quarter of Ecuador's banana exports.

The fruit is the main source of employment in Ecuador's agricultural sector and almost two-thirds of production comes from small producers with less than 30 hectares.

Ecuador, characterized by its extreme diversity of climate zones, boasts an extraordinary array of geographical systems that range from high altitude glaciers to tropical rainforests in the Amazon, making it highly vulnerable to climate change.

Besides Ecuador, other major banana producers have also witnessed the impact of extreme weather events, especially the rising frequency of storms. The Dominican Republic's banana producers had to contend with 17 hurricanes in the 2017 growing season alone. In 2020, hurricanes Eta and Iota damaged about 27 percent of banana production in Honduras, representing $17 million in losses. 

However, the long-term overall effect of climate change on banana production needs to be further analyzed. A 2019 study led by Dr. Dan Bebber from the University of Exeter, noted that 27 countries have seen banana production grow since 1961 due to the changing climate resulting in more favourable growing conditions, but the gains could disappear by 2050 if climate change continue.

(Cover image via CFP)

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