Banana farming in South Africa occupies a unique niche within the broader agricultural landscape. Unlike tropical regions where bananas are a major export commodity, South Africa’s banana industry is largely focused on local consumption due to its subtropical climate.
Tam Johnson, an animal scientist and sales and technical manager at Du Roi Laboratory, says the banana industry in South Africa is part of the subtropical banana-growing areas, making it different from tropical regions.
Due to the cold winters, South African bananas are primarily for local consumption, as they cannot meet the bright yellow colour standard required for export.
“Most of our supply in South Africa is for our local use. We’ve got about 11 000 hectares of bananas in South Africa. Our main growing regions are Tzaneen, Kiepersol, Komatipoort, and then north of KwaZulu-Natal, and then along the coast, coming all the way down to the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Those are the main growing regions within South Africa, as well as Levubu,” he says.
Sustainable banana cultivation
Johnson highlights various sustainable farming practices in banana cultivation including, organic farming, integrated pest management, cover crops, mulching, fallows, and crop rotation.
“A lot of them (farmers) have now started looking into what other plants and crops they can integrate into their fields for obviously beneficial insects, and also providing nutrients back into the soils for the plants. [In] doing that, they also create a mass which can hold water and moisture in the soil much longer,” he says.
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Johnson also shares a bit about his journey in the agricultural sector and working at Du Roi Laboratory, which specialises in producing tissue culture banana plants. The laboratory supplies 100% of banana plants within South Africa and a significant portion to other regions, including southern Africa, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Morocco, the Middle East, and central America.
“I [travel] a lot to the different regions that we supply plants to just to follow up, see how our plants are doing, and make sure that everyone is happy with the quality of plants. I just go to help out technically where I can in the field,” he shares.
In this episode, Johnson also discusses:
- The impact of climate change on the banana industry;
- Major banana diseases; and
- Technological advancements.
Dive deeper into the episode and gain insights from the award-winning Farmer’s Inside Track, officially recognised as Africa and the world’s best podcast at the 2024 Digital Media Awards presented by WAN-IFRA, the global press organisation.
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