The major banana-growing areas of the world are geographically situated between the equator and latitudes 200 North and 200 South. Conditions in this area are mainly tropical, with temperature fluctuations from day to night and from summer to winter being comparatively small.

• Banana is essentially a humid tropical plant, coming up well in regions with a temperature range of 10° C to 40° C and an average of 23° C. In cooler climate the duration is extended, sucker production is affected and bunches are smaller. The growth of the banana plant responds quickly, within a matter of an hour or two to changes in air temperature. All growth ceases as soon as the temperature of the surrounding air falls below 11° C.
• As long as the temperature remains 11° C, no growth whatsoever takes place. As the air temperature rises above 11° C growth starts and the growth rate increases gradually at first, and then with rising temperatures, more and more rapidly.
• The biggest increase in growth rate for every degree that the temperature rise appears to lie between approximately 19° C and 23° C.
• The daily growth at 23° C is, in fact, about double that at 19° C. With further rise in temperature, the growth continues to increase, but more and more slowly as high levels of temperature are reached. In the experiments conducted, no falling off or even leveling off of the growth rate was observed,.
• Banana is cultivated under different conditions in India.

Temperature, Rainfall and Latitude details of banana growing states in India.

State	Latitude ° N	Temp° C	Region	Rainfall (Cm)
Andhra Pradesh	16-18	16-43	Coastal	100
			Rayalaseema	68
Telangana	16-18	16-43	-	81
Assam	25-27	16-38	-	252
Bihar	22-25	10-46	-	137
Karnataka	14-28	13-18	Coastal	326
			South	124
			North	69
Kerala	10-14	16-38	-	301
Maharashtra	19-22	13-41	-	92
Tamil Nadu	10-12	16-41	-	102
Uttar Pradesh	25-28	7-43	East	102
			West	96

• Bananas can be grown from sea level to an altitude of 1200 metres. The 'hill bananas' of Tamil Nadu are raised between elevations of 500 to 1500 metres mostly under rainfed conditions.
• The wind prone areas cause devastating damage to the banana plantations by toppling down the plants due to pseudostem breakage. Similarly, bananas cannot withstand frost to any extent. So, at higher elevations the low temperatures prevailing cause delayed cropping and slow growth.
• In coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu the cyclonic wind damages the plantations. Hence it is advisable to select areas where mean temperature is around 25-30° C with a mean annual rainfall of 100 mm per month.

Effects of low Winter temperatures

• The problems which result in a banana plantation from low winter temperatures serve to only emphasize the importance of adequate heat as a factor, in banana production.
• The most important of these are 'choke throat' 'November dump' and frost damage.

Choke throat

Bunch bursting through pseudostem

Low winter temperatures greatly reduce vegetative growth of the banana plant. During the coldest months, the leaf emergence and number of leaves produced are affected.

The top hands become trapped in the throat of the plant	The elongation of the leaf internodes is reduced. This reduction in length of the internodes causes a constriction at the throat of the plant and combined with the correspondingly reduced elongation of the internodes of the bunch stem, makes it difficult for the bunch to emerge through the throat.

• This condition is referred to as 'choke throat' and the trapped bunches which are exposed to the sun are also called "sun lookers".
• This is a major problem with Dwarf Cavendish. Flowering during the winter period can result in considerable losses, especially during colder years. Severely chocked bunches should be cut down to let the follower develop faster.

November dump

• Cold temperatures also have a marked effect on bunch development. When the flower initiation occurs during the winter, a characteristically a peculiar bunch can be expected.

The November dump bunch is small and composed of hands of uneven size and often deformed fruits. The smaller fingers on the hands are, in many cases, fuller at the flower end and thinner at the stalk end. The flower end is often black, rough and cracked and during a good rainy season, fungal diseases further damage these fruits.

• Another common symptom is the cone-shaped protuberance at the flower end. This protuberance is pale green in colour. The amount of misshapen fruit as November-emerging bunches varies from year to year.
• It must be stressed that November dump symptoms are caused by cold temperatures and they are not mineral deficiency or drought symptoms. A good orchard practice is to cut down all the plants producing severe November dumps.

Banana comes up in relatively wide range of soil conditions. Two important factors to be looked into are the soil depth and drainage. Soils of atleast 50 cm depth, well drained, fertile lands are necessary for banana cropping.

Soils of Banana growing states in India

State	Soil Type
Maharashtra Coastal Areas Plains	Sandy soil Black cotton soil
Tamil Nadu Cauvery Delta Hill slopes	Clay soil; Alluvial Loamy type
Central India Gangetic delta	Alluvial soil
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana	Alluvial, clay
Kerala Coastal area Plain & Low hill slope	Sandy loam tract Red laterite

• Bananas can grow well in slightly alkaline soils, but saline soils with salinity exceeding 0.05 per cent are unsuitable. In alkaline soil wilt disease is less prevalent.
• The physical condition of soils on which bananas are cultivated is very important, since root development is determined chiefly by the degree of aeration of the soil.
• In poorly aerated soils, that is soils which have compacted as a result of poor structure, or badly drained soils which are over irrigated, there is a marked decrease in root development.