Log in

View Full Version : Plants to Guatemala


rschreffler
01-22-2016, 03:34 PM
Hi, new member here and pretty much dog ignorant. Does anyone know, or does anyone know how I would go about finding out about, how I would go about bringing some baby plants to Guatemala? I am especially interested in the Java Blue (Blue Java?) variety, but would also like to try some others if recommended. I live in the Central Highlands, temp range 55-85 year round, four months of much rain, 8 months of hardly any, but have facilities for as much irrigation as needed. Would appreciate any info on importation rules, varieties that might be well-suited to this environment, etc. Thanks for any help.
ray

Gabe15
01-22-2016, 11:14 PM
Hello and welcome.

There are typically strict import regulations for banana plants to Latin American countries as the risk for disease introduction is serious for the export industry.

The first thing I would do if you haven't already is poke around and see what people in your region are already growing, you may be surprised by what is already there. You can take photos of the bunches of fruit and post them here, and we can ID what they are.

rschreffler
01-23-2016, 06:52 PM
Hi; I found a site called "list of the import prohibited plants". For Guatemala it specifically says that these plants include "musa, except immature plants". I am going to try to contact the Guate customs folks on Monday to see if that is correct. As to local growers, googling turns up none. I was hoping that there would be some bananas.org members in Guate, but I seem to be the only one. I will appreciate any additional info anyone can give, and will post anything I am able to find out.
ray

Gabe15
01-23-2016, 08:54 PM
Surely there are bananas around, maybe trying talking to some locals? Normally the plants allowed for import are tissue cultured plants which are virus indexed and/or with a phytosanitary certificate which can be difficult to get for non-commercial cultivars.

rschreffler
01-23-2016, 09:50 PM
Thanks. I will look into it.

Bradford
03-18-2016, 10:45 PM
I would think you'd have more access to bananas than anyone here being in Guatemala. The term Banana Republic was pretty much coined there. Google united fruit company, cia, Guatemala, etc.