Tuesday, October 10, 2017
GROWING bananas commercially could be an option for Eastern Bay landowners, a Gisborne-based trust says. Photo supplied
Sven Carlsson
GROWING bananas commercially could be an option for Eastern Bay landowners.
Taipukenga Trust programme manager Trevor Mills said he was convinced bananas could become an important horticultural crop alongside kiwifruit, grapes, apples and citrus as viable farming options in the Eastern Bay.
Mr Mills said the Gisborne-based trust had formed an alliance with the recently formed Northland-based Tropical Fruit Growers Association.
“Registrations of interest are now being sought from interested parties in the Eastern Bay who may want to consider growing bananas on a commercial basis,” he said.
“Tropical Fruit Growers Association growers are producing top-quality bananas and are selling them at local farmers markets in increasing quantities to satisfy the demand.”
Mr Mills said Gisborne test sites had shown that bananas grew well there.
“The trust is seeking funding support to establish a tropical fruits demonstration farm at Manutuke near Gisborne,” he said.
The purpose of the farm would be to show interested parties, iwi and hapu that there was commercial promise in growing bananas and other tropical crops in the Eastern Bay, the East Coast, Gisborne and Wairoa.
Mr Mills said independent financial analysis from the Northland Polytechnic had shown a possible return from bananas of $20,000 to $30,000 per hectare after about a 30-month period from planting to harvesting.
“Lifestyle blocks with a spare hectare or two could consider bananas as an alternative cash crop,” he said.
“The Northland growers have viewed photos of the Gisborne bananas and they have no doubts that the local fruit has commercial possibilities.”
Other tropical crops being considered include pineapples and mangoes.
The trust was considering producing banana plants from tissue-culture techniques, which involved taking samples from the stem of the plant and growing them under laboratory conditions.
“The Gisborne-based Linnaeus laboratory associated with Riversun Nursery has shown interest in producing these plants using these tissue culture methods,” Mr Mills said.