European demand for Ecuadorian bananas slumps
Ecuador's banana sales in Europe are expected to fall year-on-year by about 700,000 cases this season, website Eluniverso.com reported. 
Former agricultural minister Sergio Seminari told the website the fall was due to the economic downturn and falling demand in Europe.
Ecuadorian Banana Industry Association president Cecilio Jalil, reported the price of bananas was very depressed this season and stressed the need to improve productivity.
Jalil said the country's smaller producers, which make up 30% of the country's plantations, needed to improve production levels.
He said Ecuador produced on average 1,200 cartons per hectare compared with Costa Rica's 2,500-3000 cartons per hectare.
But Jalil qualified the productivity issue saying that larger producers were more efficient.
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