Colombia's Banana Association (Augura) has patented a bio-input that allows increasing the biomass and spores of a microorganism that helps banana plants grow more strongly and in less time. The development will allow shortening the maturation process of the plants from 9 to 7 months, thus increasing their annual production.
Augura's president, Juan Camilo Restrepo, said that they were going to export a total of 93 million boxes of bananas to the European Union this year, as they export 73 percent of their fruit to that market, and also to the United States. He added that thanks to the bio-input that was achieved with the help of Eafit, they could export some 100 million boxes of bananas in 2018, i.e. 7 million more than in previous years.
In a dialogue with LA FM, the president of Augura said that "in the not too distant future, after a licensing process, we will be able to offer these inputs to all plantations. We can speed the maturation process from 9 to 7 months, which is very good news. This will strengthen our productivity, logistics, innovation and market strategy."
Augura expects that the 47 thousand hectares of bananas planted in Urabá, Magdalena and La Guajira, will allow the sector to continue hiring more people so that they can live in a dignified manner, have job stability, while respecting their labor rights.
Juan Camilo Restrepo also stated that the first half of each year is the period of greatest consumption of tropical fruits, especially bananas, in the markets of the European Union and the United States.
Source: lafm.com.co