Banana production began in Ecuador in 1910, however, the industry did not experience a boom until 1948. In 1948, the government of President Galo Plaza began issuing agricultural loans, lowering tariffs, building ports, coastal highways, and made efforts to control pests.
At its peak in the mid-1950s Ecuador was the largest banana producer in the world. In 1954 five companies including Standard Fruit, United Fruit, and Noboa handled 80 percent of Ecuador’s banana exports. Ten years later there were already 3,000 banana farms in the country, each averaging about 158 acres in size.
In 1960, bananas exported from Ecuador accounted for 25 percent of world production, outside the production of all Central American countries. In the late 1950s, a fungal disease called Panama disease caused huge losses in the banana harvest. During the 1960s, agrarian reform caused the fragmentation of land holdings and multinational companies were closed down due to labor problems. Large landowners lost their advantage and as a result a very large number of small producers appeared. During this period the Central American countries introduced a new variety known as the Cavendish.
In the 1970s, Black Sigatoka disease wiped out much of the banana production in Central America and Colombia. Export taxation and political unrest in Central America played into the hands of Ecuador. Fruit Company and Del Monte Fresh Produce Company have decided to make Ecuador the main bananas’ provider. 147,909 hectares were devoted to production, 99 percent of which were in the three provinces of Oro, Guayas and Los Ríos in the lowlands of the Pacific coast, with a tropical climate and rich soil conditions.
In 2012, Black Sigotoka affected 40% (85,000 ha) of the country’s banana plantations, with a loss of $600 million.