New Zealand's Far North could become a major banana-growing region, horticulture experts say. Aaron McCloy has hosted two workshops this winter, sharing the basics about banana plantations, with another to be scheduled in Kerikeri. He said farmers had been told they needed to improve their waterways, but many didn’t know how.
“Bananas are the solution,” McCloy said. “They are excellent at absorbing nitrates and phosphates in run-off from cows, thus preventing them from reaching streams. And NZ-grown bananas are now for sale at supermarkets for $9.99 per kilo. The attractiveness of banana plants producing 10-20kg bunches within three years cannot be overlooked.”
McCloy and his partner, Elle Montgomery, run Far North Tropicals, while McCloy also teaches horticulture and science at Taipa Area School. “Teachers need a second job these days, so I started this micro business.”
McCloy said farmers could make more money from their land, improve water quality and have drought and flood-resilient fodder for cows by growing bananas. McCloy said a planting rate of 500 banana stems per hectare — about 80 per cent of which would be expected to produce fruit — would yield 10-20kg of fruit per hectare per year within two or three years.
Source: nzherald.co.nz
