Guam: Typhoon destroys banana crops
Among the most affected are the island's banana farmers, like Bernard Watson, of Yigo. Typhoon Dolphin took out eight acres of his banana crop, a little over 4,000 trees, he said.
"We saw maybe a hair over 100-mph winds and that doesn't do well for bananas," he said.
The storm flattened his trees, he said, meaning it'll probably be another eight months or so before he sees another banana on his farm. And because of recent weather, he said, his crops haven't had much of a chance to grow. However, he said, he just chalks it up to the weather cycles and does his best to recover.
As for preparation in advance, he said, there's not much a farmer can do except harvest what's ready and start preparing for the next crop.
Watson still has bittermelon in the ground, he said, as well as tomatoes. Even under the best conditions, he said, it'll take about three months to get a crop of eggplant, bittermelon or tomatoes to market and turn a profit.
Watson said that while there is federal crop insurance, "it's slow."
Even if there was compensation, he said, because bananas are an annual crop, it wouldn't happen until the end of the year.
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