Organic banana in Haiti

  • Published on 1/07/2015 - Published by LOEILLET Denis
  • FruiTrop n°233 , Page From 24 to 29
  • Free

The Agritrans project

In a country of natural catastrophes and chronic economic under-development, the Haitian organic banana production and export project is a genuine piece of good news. The first fruits should be shipped to Europe by September 2015. The initial project involves 1 000 ha, though a land reserve of more than twice that is available. In the medium term this project could considerably increase the world organic banana supply, in which the neighbouring Dominican Republic leads the way. Furthermore, the project has an essential asset: it is designed to fit perfectly into the local economic and social fabric... in a word, its inclusiveness!

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Summary

Situated in the North-East Department, in the Limonade – Trou du Nord zone, this big coastal plain zone is well-suited to banana production. It comprises a 40 to 60 cm clay-silt soil on top of a deep sandy (coral) layer (advantageous for drainage), unused for 50 years (formerly a concession of several thousand hectares farmed for extensive production of sisal).

haiti map
haiti map

The dry climate requires irrigation to be installed (annual average rainfall less than 1 000 mm). Conversely, this climate is an advantage since it severely limits the impact of the main banana disease, black cercosporiosis or black leaf streak disease (BLSD or Sigatoka). This disease is present throughout Haiti (since 2000), in the neighbouring Dominican Republic (since 1996) and throughout the Caribbean-Latin American sub-region. Hence the climate situation in the zone is crucial for organic production, as is the case for the main organic producers in the Dominican Republic, in Peru (north-west), Ecuador (south-west), Colombia (north-east) or Ghana.

A project with good local integration

The Agritrans project, promoted by Jovenel MOISE, an entrepreneur native to the region, has been in development for around a decade. It arose from two observations:

-          there had been banana production for export in the northern plains region in the 1950s. At the time, the fruits were exported by the city of Port-de-Paix, and their natural destination was Florida, particularly close to the Haitian coast (two or three days by sea);

-          the region’s agricultural land has been practically unfarmed for nearly 60 years. Only highly precarious food-producing agriculture has been developed on this land, which belongs to the Haitian State. This would facilitate “Organic Agriculture” certification.

So the project incorporates all these parameters. It will produce organic bananas, and its investments incorporate the idea that the local fabric (population, current users, the region) must benefit from the economic development generated. Hence a dialogue has been opened with all the local stakeholders concerned, which has led to the implementation of a number of actions, such as compensation for food crop plots destroyed due to land consolidation, the promise to preferentially hire local labour, forming cooperatives to eventually produce banana and other fruits and vegetables in association with the project, etc. At present, the project extends over nearly 1 000 ha, and holds a State concession for a 25-year period.

Large-scale work completed to have bananas available from September

The first work started in September 2013: land preparation, drainage network, digging wells and the water reservoir pond, primary irrigation network, pathway and plot network, reinforcing a dyke, etc.

The plant stock came from pre-detached vitroplants (William variety), originating from Costa Rica. The hardening phase (one month) in plastic sachets was carried out in a shade shed built especially on the site, with a capacity of 230 000 vitroplants. At present, the hardening rate is 80 000 to 150 000 vitroplants per month, and vitroplants are arriving from Costa Rica every two weeks.

The first planting, initially scheduled for late April 2014, began in October, though rainy spells pushed back actual planting until late November. In May 2015, nearly 200 ha had already been planted, at a planting rate of 7 to 8 ha per week. The planting density is 2 500 plants/ha in double rows.

Organic certification is issued by the Peruvian company Control Union, which has an office based in Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, where it is the main certification company.

Irrigation is provided by a network of around ten wells equipped with electric pumps and connected to a 27 000 m3 holding pond (enabling settling). The water is then redistributed by pumping to the drip irrigation network.

In the medium term, a damming project on a neighbouring river is in the study phase, with the support of the Haitian State. Under the plan, a pipeline around 20 kilometres long would be built, bringing water upstream of the banana zone, and enabling irrigation by natural pressure without the need for pumping. The water reserve capacity would be nearly 100 000 m3, enabling the irrigation of approximately 5 000 ha. A large-scale drainage network has been installed (rare cases of heavy rainy spells).

As regards diseases and pests, the risk of nematode contamination (one of the major constraints on banana production, especially in Haiti) is theoretically zero, if the golden rule of using vitroplants is strictly adhered to, with an absolute ban on introducing local sprouts (suckers), and taking certain precautions to prevent contamination by imported soil (e.g. by the workforce). Efficient fertilisation and irrigation, as well as scrupulous control of the defoliation techniques should be sufficient to limit the impact of black leaf streak disease (high pressure possible in the few rainy weeks of the year).

A cableway network for transporting bunches from the plots to the conditioning station is being installed. A single packing station is planned for the 1 000 ha, which should be built very shortly. It will have the biggest capacity of the whole Caribbean zone.

Bananas will be exported from the port of Cap-Haïtien, situated 30 km from the production site. The transport time to reach Europe (Dunkirk) would be at least 16 days, depending on the shipping routes taken. The first harvests are scheduled for June-July 2015, and the first containers would be shipped around August-September.

Other entrepreneurial investors, both Haitian and foreign, are interested in this project, and should in the short or medium term launch a similar set-up over 1 500 ha.

Thanks to the support of the French Embassy, the project can call on the expertise of CIRAD, in terms of:

-          crop science (organic fertilisation, technical procedures, service plants, irrigation, etc.);

-          phytopathology (organic management of black leaf streak disease);

-          environmental and social impacts of the project as a whole on the zone;

-          Vitropic (a subsidiary of CIRAD) setting up to supply high quality vitroplants (banana and plantain);

-          training.

Furthermore, the proximity of the new “Roi Henri Christophe” State University 500 m from the project is of great interest, especially since the new Crop Science Faculty has 100 ha of wild land for the trial. A collaborative project with CIRAD and the French Embassy is in the study phase

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