Mediterranean coast province of Antalya’s Alanya district, which produces 160,000 tonnes of Türkiye’s annual 900,000 tonnes of bananas, has started to produce red and finger bananas in addition to the Alanya banana, which is registered with a geographical mark.

In Alanya, where 160,000 tonnes of the more than 900,000 tonnes of annual banana production in the country is carried out, the production of new varieties called “red” and “finger”, which have a higher economic value, has been started in order to enhance the diversity, as well as the Alanya banana, whose taste is registered with a geographical mark.
Bananas, which have an important share in Antalya’s agricultural production, were not eaten in the first quarter of the 1900s when the tree that the Alanya merchant brought back after his trip to Egypt and planted in his garden began to bear its first fruits, as he thought it might be poisonous. The rumour that bananas were poisonous ended after the maid of the house tasted the ripe bananas that fell from the tree and were eaten by ants and other insects. This is how the first banana production in Alanya started in the 1920s. Banana production has spread over a 200 kilometre area from Serik and Manavgat on the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye to Alanya and the Anamur district of Mersin province. The bananas, whose yields increased with greenhouse cultivation, were consumed in the domestic market and attracted great interest. The quality of the Alanya banana, which is resistant to cold and wind, with its short stature and flavour, was registered with a certificate of geographical indication in 2022…