It sounds like a simple question: "In terms of tons what is the largest fruit crop harvested in the world?"

I simply can't work out the answer. Even our own pages are conflicting:

http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question20969.html

http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question14857.html

Anyone able to solve this one?

Wiki disagrees with both:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_production#Fruit

And it even depends on whether you count tomatoes as a fruit... (since they beat watermelons and bananas)

For taxation purposes, the tomato is a vegetable in the USA.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden

A knowledgable person knows that tomatoes are technically fruit. A wise person doesn't try to put tomatoes in a fruit salad.

I thought that bananas were the most popular fruit (I think I read that here, actually) and this'd agree:
http://www.statista.com/statistics/264001/worldwide-production-of-fruit-by-variety/

Though admittedly the same site excludes tomatoes, watermelons, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, melons, and pumpkins from the "fruit" list.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/264065/global-production-of-vegetables-by-type/

Since when is watermelon a vegetable? I don't think I'd pay that outfit $49 a month for their statistical services.

watermelon:
noun
1. the large melonlike fruit of a plant of the gourd family, with smooth green skin, red pulp, and watery juice.

In terms of tons, the pumpkin comes in at an average of 0.25T for some of the bigguns. So that might answer your "in tonnage, largest fruit harvested".

Actually, sweet tomatoes (the yellow and orange ones, particularly the "cherry" sized ones are quite good in fruit salads) but I still giggled at your comment Tizz, good one.

I think the question itself is problematic to a certain degree. Is the question what fruit is produced the most in the world, regardless of weight? Or is the question what fruit is the largest in size and therefore weighs the most? Or is the question what fruit is produced/sold regarding total weight only? And by whose opinion is this item classified as a fruit?

Also, there are lots of opinions worldwide on all kinds of edible plants. Many of us may know about the controversy about tomatoes, but a lot of it depends on whether you are talking to a botanist, a culinary chef, a gardener, the US Supreme Court or any other legal institution in other countries.

Botanists view anything edible growing below the ground to be a vegetable, things growing above the ground are considered stems/leaves/grasses/grains and, of course, fruit. If anyone cares, they classify things like broccoli to be in the "stems" group. Many botanists would say that corn (fresh on the cob), for instance, is a fruit because the male part (the "tassles") pollinate the "silks" (the female part) and each pollinated/fertilized silk produces exactly one kernel of corn. But some of them, not the majority, contend that corn is a grain because it belongs to the grass family (monocots). Chefs and the general public obviously call it a vegetable. None of them can really be considered incorrect depending on CONTEXT.

Perhaps the question could be reworded in some sort of way like "according to so and so, this edible plant classified as a fruit" etc... Not sure if that helps any lol