Objectives

The overall objective is to substantially reduce pesticide use in export banana production while maintaining yield, fruit quality, and the economic viability of production. The pilot seeks to move from systematic fungicide applications towards a rational treatment strategy based on field monitoring, while eliminating active ingredients prohibited for use in the European Union.  

Specific Objectives include:

• Reducing the Treatment Frequency Index (IFT) by at least 50%. 
• Eliminating active ingredients prohibited for use in the European Union. 
• Replacing systematic fungicide applications with treatments guided by biological and field monitoring. 
• Monitoring disease pressure and existing fungicide resistance to inform treatment decisions. 
• Maintaining banana yield and fruit quality during pesticide reduction. 
• Assessing the economic implications of the transition, including treatment costs, labor, potential production losses and associated risks. 
• Generating evidence and practical experience to support wider transition within the banana sector. 

Activities

The pilot works with banana producers to replace the systematic spraying of fungicides with treatments based on actual disease pressure and field monitoring. Farm teams undertake the biological monitoring of plantations, assess fungicide resistance, and use this information to determine when treatment is required. CIRAD provides technical support and training to accompany producers and farm teams through the transition. 

The project works to reduce pesticide applications and remove active ingredients prohibited in the European Union, while maintaining banana production levels and fruit quality. A 92-hectare pilot farm and an 85-hectare control farm are managed in parallel to test the changes under commercial production conditions and compare their performance.  

CIRAD and its partners identify risks and possible intervention points, co-design changes with local actors, and provide technical and organizational support during implementation. The project tracks pesticide use, disease pressure, yield, fruit quality, shelf life, labor, and treatment costs so that changes in pesticide management can be assessed against both farm performance and economic conditions. 

At the value-chain level, the work brings together producers, researchers, distributors and other sector actors to coordinate pesticide reduction and identify conditions for wider adoption. Multi-stakeholder platforms such as the French Initiative for Sustainable Bananas (IFBD) and the World Banana Forum are leveraged to connect farm-level changes with wider banana-sector requirements and transition efforts. 

Results

• The pilot achieved pesticide reductions beyond its initial 50% IFT reduction target. After two years, the Treatment Frequency Index (IFT) decreased by 58–63%, while the quantity of active ingredients (QSA) fell by 75%. 

• The pilot also achieved the complete elimination of Mancozeb, and no active ingredients prohibited for use in the European Union were applied. These reductions were achieved with no negative impact on banana yield or fruit quality, showing that pesticide use can be substantially reduced under the tested commercial production conditions without reducing productive performance. 

• The results also established a practical system for moving away from routine fungicide applications towards treatment decisions based on biological monitoring and disease pressure. The comparison between the 92-hectare pilot farm and 85-hectare control farm allowed changes in pesticide use to be assessed alongside fruit quality, shelf life, production, phytosanitary conditions, labor and treatment costs. 

Lessons learned

The pilot showed that substantial pesticide reduction is possible without reducing yield or fruit quality when treatments are based on field conditions rather than applied systematically. Ultimately, biological monitoring, assessment of disease pressure and fungicide resistance, and continued technical support reduced pesticide use while maintaining commercial production. 

Another lesson is that local partners need continued technical and organizational support throughout the agroecological transition. CIRAD’s approach combines risk diagnosis, identification of possible actions, co-design with stakeholders, technical support and assessment of the conditions required for scaling.  

The experience also highlighted the need for a holistic approach to transition. Decisions on pesticide reduction must consider phytosanitary risks alongside production, fruit quality, labor, costs, and potential losses. Monitoring these dimensions helps determine whether proposed changes are technically and economically workable for producers.  

The project identified shared responsibility across the value chain as important for sustaining transition. Producers cannot carry the costs, risks, and uncertainty of change alone. Transition efforts need recognition, appropriate support, and participation from other value-chain actors. The project also identifies clear indicators, consideration of costs and value, and reducing uncertainty for producers as necessary conditions for wider change.  

Limiting barriers

Transition is constrained by high disease pressure and continued dependence on fungicides in export banana production. Reducing treatments requires reliable biological monitoring and management of existing fungicide resistance, as poorly managed reductions could expose producers to crop losses. Costs and production risks also influence farmers’ willingness and ability to change pesticide practices. Treatment costs, labor, defoliation, potential losses, yield and fruit quality all must be considered when introducing alternatives. In short, the uncertainty associated with changing established production practices remains an important barrier to wider adoption.  

The sector is also influenced by export-market requirements and differences in regulations between producing and importing countries. Reducing highly toxic and ecotoxic inputs therefore requires action across the value chain, not only at farm level. Producers need technical support, clear indicators, viable transition costs and appropriate incentives, while buyers, distributors and public authorities need to share responsibility for the transition. Without this support, producers may bear much of the cost, risk and uncertainty associated with changing established production practices, limiting wider adoption and scale-up.  

Looking ahead

This project’s priority is to take the experience beyond the pilot farm and support wider change in the export banana sector. The pilot provides a basis for determining which pesticide-reduction practices are ready for wider application and how they can be adapted to different production contexts. Moving to scale will require agreement on a level and pace matching the project’s ambitions, supported by indicators that can track progress and guide decisions. The project also points towards moving from individual farm-level benefits to wider public and sectoral benefits, with stronger involvement of authorities in both producing and importing countries. The longer-term aim is therefore to use evidence from the Colombia pilot to inform broader pesticide-reduction strategies and coordinated action across export banana supply chains, rather than treating the pilot as a stand-alone farm intervention. 

CIRAD-Agroecological transition of banana and plantain cropping systems 

World Banana Forum 

French Initiative for Sustainable Bananas 

Tecbaco-banana 

LiDL-Living wage bananas-Colombia 

Annaïg Blouin – CIRAD – GECO Research Unit (Management of Cultivated Ecosystems), Annaig.blouin@cirad.fr 

Pictures credits: CIRAD

Main principles and elements featured in this case: efficiency, resilience, synergies, co-creation and sharing of knowledge, responsible governance, participation, input reduction