The French Minister of Agriculture, Agri-food and the Forest, Stéphane Le Foll, wants Guadeloupe to commit to an agro-ecological strategy for bananas and other productions in the Antilles and Guadeloupe.
“I think we must grow bananas, but also other products. This is part of the challenge to be competitive and sustainable,” explains the Minister. According to Mr Le Foll, the first banana project had extremely positive results and the Antilles banana has the least pesticides in the world. Mr Le Foll will support, develop and make sure that sustainable banana N°2 will happen as of the first trimester this year.
As for sugar cane, Mr Le Foll underlines the importance of having a good strategy to face up to a competitive market.
According to the Minister, plans for a sustainable banana show that economic performance is not incompatible with an environmental performance. He believes in the Antilles, and noteably Guadeloupe, that a banana of quality with an agro-ecological strategy will have a leading role in the Caribbean. He wants to change the production model in order to eventually aim for less phytosanitary chemicals, but just as much production : a way to value the potential of agro-ecological knowledge.