The process of expansion in commercial banana cropping in tropical China: A case study at a Dai village, Mengla County

• Published in: Agricultural systems Vol. 124; pp. 32 - 38
• Main Authors: Zhang, Le, Kono, Yasuyuki, Kobayashi, Shigeo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2014
• Subjects: Land use; Livelihood transition; Risk aversion; Rural inequality; Risk aversion; Livelihood transition; Rural inequality; Land use
• ISSN: 0308-521X; 1873-2267
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2013.10.006

•Banana cultivation has high return and replaced paddy within a short period.•Wealthier households are able to be risk takers and grew more bananas.•Market and institutional settings support the rapid expansion of banana cultivation.
During the last decade, commercial banana cropping has spread widely and rapidly in tropical China. In the present study, we focus on a Dai village to identify how villagers adopted commercial banana cropping and examine the conditions that might sustain this change. The results show that the introduction of commercial banana cropping caused a drastic conversion of cropping patterns in lowland fields to a banana mono-culture within a short period. Almost all villagers adopted banana farming within three years, and wealthier households grew more bananas by their greater ability to fund themselves and taking more credit. Market and institutional settings that built connections between villagers and outside the village and secured the domestic movement of goods, information and labor sustained this change.