Banana originated in Southeast Asia, and the south of China is also one of its origins. Nowadays, the ancestors of bananas cultivated by people are the hybrids of two kinds of wild bananas, one is Aga banana and the other is luna banana. In the historical process of evolution, according to the growth and development characteristics of bananas, people adopt asexual reproduction and carry on the family line. Banana cultivation has a long history in China. According to ancient records, as early as when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built Shanglin Garden, twelve cadre schools were transplanted from Lingnan area to Chang 'an, Shaanxi for viewing. This shows that as early as the Han Dynasty more than two thousand years ago, bananas were cultivated in Lingnan area of China. After long-term artificial selection and cultivation, the quality is getting better and better. As the Eastern Han Dynasty's "History of Foreign Things" said: "A banana peel, eating its meat like honey, is very beautiful. Four or five pieces is enough, and the rest is still in the teeth, becoming a banana. " In the third century AD, the Record of Foreign Bodies in the South recorded: "There are three kinds of bananas, one is as big as a thumb, long and sharp, and the other is like a horn. The famous horn banana tastes sweetest; A banana, such as egg and goat's milk, has slightly less taste; A banana is as big as a lotus root, six or seven inches long, square, called a square banana, which is less sweet and has the lightest taste. " The Jin Dynasty's "Guangzhou Ji" also records that Guangzhou has a warm climate and bananas can blossom and bear fruit all year round. Tang Herbal Notes also said that "the bananas in Lingnan are big and sweet, while the bananas in the north have flowers but no fruit", which not only reflects the history of banana production in China, but also reflects the ecological characteristics and geographical distribution of bananas. In the Song Dynasty in the 10 century, bananas produced in China were not only used for fresh food, but also used for processing into dried plantains. Bananas were planted in Panyu, Nanhai, Dongguan, Qingyuan, Zengcheng and other counties in Guangdong Province in the Yuan Dynasty, especially in Zengcheng. However, throughout the country, during the 1500 years from the Han Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the banana production in China was characterized by small area, small output, scattered distribution and more planting in front of the house. By the middle of Ming Dynasty, with the development of social commodity economy and the improvement of people's understanding of the economic value of bananas, the demand for bananas in society was increasing day by day, which stimulated the continuous development of banana production and formed a number of concentrated banana producing areas. For example, Xizhou in Xintang in the southwest of Zengcheng County, Guangdong Province, Li Jiao and Mayong in the northwest of Dongguan County, and Huangcun in the eastern suburb of Guangzhou to zhu cun are all products developed during this period.
From the Opium War to War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, banana production developed rapidly due to the development of transportation at home and abroad, the expansion of trade and the high economic benefits of bananas. No matter the planting area, yield or distribution of producing areas, there has been a great expansion, which is the most prosperous period of banana production in the history of China. According to the incomplete statistics of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, during this period, the banana planting area in the Pearl River Delta exceeded 50,000 mu, and the annual output reached 6,543.8+0,000 tons. Among them, Dongguan, Panyu, Zengcheng, Zhongshan and Shunde are the most concentrated districts and counties. Bananas rich in the Pearl River Delta are not only supplied to Guangzhou for consumption, but also hundreds of thousands of tons are shipped to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tianjin, Dalian and the Yangtze River basin every year. However, during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, due to the successive fall of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hankou, the traffic was blocked and the market was blocked, and the price of bananas fell sharply. Therefore, many places in the south destroyed banana orchards and planted rice or dry farming, which seriously damaged banana production in China. According to the survey in Guangdong Province, during the Anti-Japanese War, the banana planting area was reduced by half. In particular, banana plantations in Panyu County, Guangdong Province have decreased by about 90%. The losses in Guangdong, an important banana producing area, can be summarized. After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory, with the recovery of traffic, the banana market is expanding day by day, the banana price is rising, and the banana production in China is gradually recovering. Take the Pearl River Delta as an example. By 1949, the banana planting area was 535 13 mu, and the output was 929,500 tons, which was close to the pre-war level.