In 1899, the banana industry in Honduras was growing rapidly and the peaceful transfer of power from Policarpo Bonilla to General Terencio Sierra would mark the first time in decades that such a constitutional transition had taken place.

By 1902, railroads had been constructed along the country's Caribbean coast to accommodate the growing banana industry.

The development of the banana industry contributed to the beginnings of organized labor movements in Honduras and to the first major strikes in the nation's history.

In 1901, Vaccaro Brothers and Company established offices in La Ceiba and Salado and eventually controlled the banana industry between Boca Cerrada and Balfate ( an area of about 80 kilometers of coastline ).

In addition to the dramatic drop in banana exports caused by the depression, the fruit industry was further threatened by the outbreak in 1935 of epidemics of Panama disease ( a debilitating fungus ) and sigatoka ( leaf blight ) in the banana-producing areas.

: While living standards have improved for many, a large number of persons has been pushed to the margin of economic activity especially in the areas which once depended heavily on the banana industry for a livelihood.

Although banana revenues have helped fund the country's development since the 1960s, the industry is now in a terminal decline, due to competition from lower-cost Latin American banana producers and reduced European Union trade preferences.

Coffs Harbour is the hub for a thriving banana industry.

By 1950, a handful of U. S. corporations controlled Guatemala's primary electrical utilities, the nation's only railroad, and the banana industry, which was Guatemala's chief agricultural export industry.

Located within the district are the port of Big Creek ( the main port of Belize's banana industry ), the peninsula and village of Placencia ( a popular tourist resort ), the villages of Alta Vista, Commerce Bight, Dancing Pool, Georgetown, Guana Church Bank, High Sand, Independence and Mango Creek, Kendal, Lagarto Bank, Maya Mopan, Middle Bank, Middlesex, Mullins River, New Home, Pomona, Quarry Hill, Rancho Grande, Red Bank, Regalia, Sarawee, Silver Creek Camp, Silk Grass, San Roman, Sittee and the Garifuna village of Hopkins on the Sittee River.

The village was incorporated as a town in 1891 at which time it had a population of some 2500 people, mostly engaged in the lumber and banana industry.

Big Creek is the main port for Belize's banana industry ; citrus fruit and shrimp are also exported from here.

* The banana industry.

The early banana export industry came to be dominated by foreigners ; among the first foreigners to obtain a government concession was William Frederick Streich of Philadelphia in 1902.

The banana industry is especially oriented for exportation, and plays a huge role in the city's economy.

Georges's deluge of rainfall caused significant damage to the agricultural industry, including the loss of 75 % of its coffee crop, 95 % of its banana or plantain crop, and 65 % of its live poultry.

It is economically damaging to the banana industry, and the threat of more virulent strains or mutations to damage previously resistant crops is of major concern.

The banana industry was in a serious crisis.

In 1998, a coalition of social activist groups, led by EUROBAN ( European Banana Action Network ), itself a coalition of labor and environmental groups, chose to target the banana industry in general and Chiquita in particular to create a new climate of corporate social responsibility.

The banana industry has traditionally been dominated by a few large corporations, which employ low-wage workers in developing countries.

Later companies, the Standard Fruit and United Fruit Companies became the foundation for modern-day fruit companies, the industry which gave Honduras the sobriquet " banana republic ".

Edwin Carrington, the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, stated that Odlum " served his country, St Lucia, with distinction " and was " charismatic, eloquent and a consummate master of communication, both in speaking and writing ... one of the region's leading and most persistent exponents on the debilitating effects of the erosion of trade preferences for the region's banana industry on the livelihood of the people ".

Abacá ( ; from Spanish " abacá " for Musa textilis ), Musa textilis, is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

Burundi is one of the largest banana market in Africa.

In Lao cuisine, the herb is typically used in mok pa ( steamed fish in banana leaf ) and several coconut milk-based curries that contain fish or prawns.

A proof of the politically stabilizing effect of the banana boom of the 1950s is that even Velasco, who in 1952 was elected president for the third time, managed to serve out a full four-year term.

Although Honduran banana production is dominated by multinational giants, such is not the case with coffee, which is grown by about 55, 000 mostly small producers.

If a banana becomes brown, it can then be said: at one time, the banana is yellow ; several days later, the banana is not yellow, but is instead brown.

It is thought that some insects, as well as birds and bats, animals that can see into the ultraviolet because they are tetrachromats, can use this information to tell when a banana is ripe and ready to eat.

* 1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop a revolt by banana workers fired by the United Fruit Company.

Its potassium content by weight is slightly less than that of a banana.

The top of the hill and the whole of the south and east sides are covered with enormous pines whose dark green is enhanced by a pleasant foreground of cabbage palms and banana trees, and I also observed a low bush among them the fruit of which resembles our red currants but is much larger and hangs in purple and red clusters that help to give the whole a gay appearance.

Through these two railroad companies, United Fruit dominated the banana trade in Honduras.

By 1912, three companies dominated the banana trade in Honduras: Samuel Zemurray's Cuyamel Fruit Company, Vaccaro Brothers and Company and the United Fruit Company ; all of which tended to be vertically integrated, owning their own lands and railroad companies and ship lines such as United's " Great White Fleet ".

They were dominated by banana prawn, tiger prawn, king prawn, school prawn, bay lobster ( Thenus orientalis ), mantis shrimp, swimming crabs and mud crabs.

The surrounding region is dominated by coastal resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests, banana plantations, and other farms.

The method of production means that there is very little tannin, and the wine can be dominated by such fruity ester flavours as banana, fig and pear drop.

We were struck by the notable absence of banana skins and beer cans, but just so that we wouldn't go overboard on Greek refinement, perfection was side-stepped by a couple of braying portable radios.

Many agricultural commodities were destroyed during the 1980 storm, and about 25 percent of the banana crop was destroyed by strong winds in 1984.

This Nicaragua-assisted invasion by Honduran exiles strongly displeased the United States government, which concluded that Zelaya wanted to dominate the entire Central American region, and the government dispatched marines to Puerto Cortes to protect the banana trade ; US naval units were also sent to Honduras and were able to successfully defend Bonilla's last defense position at Amapala in the Gulfo de Fonseca.

Revolutionary intrigues also continued throughout the period, accompanied by constant rumors that one faction or another was being supported by one of the banana companies.

Mining was particularly important, and the new policies coincided with the growing of banana exporting, which began in the Bay Islands in the 1870s and was pursued on the mainland by small and middling farmers in the 1880s.

Thousands of workers were laid off, and the wages of those remaining on the job were reduced, as were the prices paid to independent banana producers by the giant fruit companies.

These " golden " exports were supported by more than US $ 40 million of specialized banana company investment in the Honduran infrastructure and were safeguarded by United States pressure on the national government when the companies felt threatened.

Just before the banana industry's largest strike in 1954, approximately 35, 000 workers held jobs on the banana plantations of the United Fruit Company ( later United Brands Company, then Chiquita Brands International ) or the Standard Fruit Company ( later brought by Castle and Cook, then Dole Food Company ).

Small banana producing cooperatives lined up in the 1990s to sell their land to the commercial giants, and the last banana-producing lands held by the government were privatized.

The rest was used for pastures or was forested and was owned by the government or the banana corporations.

These figures are impressive yet reflect production losses suffered by banana producers and the withholding of coffee exports from the market in an effort to fight steep price declines.

Many independent sugar growers, like independent banana producers, have become indignant over the relatively high profits shown by refiners and exporters.

The stone reportedly fell through a number of banana leaves before striking the boy on the head, causing little to no pain, as it was small enough to have been slowed by both friction with the atmosphere as well as that with banana leaves, before striking the boy.