Importing countries are willing to pay a higher price for organic bananas and pay more than twice for a box of this product than for a box of conventional bananas, said Odilo Duarte Bode, an agronomist graduated from the Agrarian University La Molina (Peru).
Duarte stated that an orchard of ecological bananas produced fewer boxes than a plantation of conventional bananas.
According to him, the ideal conditions to cultivate ecological bananas would be to have a "sandy loam soil, a good water supply, and good weather, which can be basically found in the north coast."
He also said that the weather was good in the jungle but that the sigatoka disease, which affected bananas the most, was present because of the rains. In that regard, he added, the north coast is privileged.
Thus, an article posted on Freshplaza.com reports that the main areas for the production of ecological bananas, Piura and, to a lesser extent, Tumbes, have the big advantage of having few rains, so there is no concern for this disease.
The farmers who commit to producing organic bananas have to consider within their investment plans the purchase of fertilizers permitted within the standards of organic farming that contain nitrogen and potassium.
"We must make sure that the plants receive the correct amounts of water throughout the year. One of the problems is that people don't water them enough, so the plant is stressed and has a low production," he added.
Odilo Duarte Bode and Mary Yamamoto, an agronomist graduated from the EARTH University of Costa Rica, will be making a presentation on October 23 and 24 as part of the IV International Course on Organic Banana, which will be held in the province of Sullana, department of Piura.
(END) INT/RMB
Published: 10/19/2014