bahamabananaman

Hey guys. i recently had an idea based on something said on a radio talk show host about the agriculataral sector helping the bahama economy if tthey would allow the chiquita company and delmonte company to grow their bannas and pineapple commercialy. the bahamas banana industry has been prosperous many years agop and many subsistence farmers grow hog bannas ( sweet fat, short island bannas ) and plantains still today without alot of ammendment of the soil and they grow well. As for mangos. Th bahama is abundant in them. all kinds so much that even tho we dont have a commercial farm of them here we could export hem and make quite a profit. they thrive here and the summer months are the picking season.
The pineapple - we were the first country to export to the uk.
And we had a successful business exporting the eluethera pineapple . You may not know this but Hawaii's successful pineapple industry was started from seed from the bahamas pineapple.

islands - andros island - the largest island i the country fifth in the region.. largely under developed. great farm land.

the abacos - former grape-fruit capital- great soil for citrus

eluthera- explained previously

exumas - once the countries onion and tomato supplier.

Soil info - eluethera and abaco are high in pineapple and citrus growing red soil the other island and highly limestone and are capable of growing plants with a little amendments here and there.
So what are the benefits for bahamians and the benefits for the chiquita and delmonte companies . what can both parties gain.?

TommyMacLuckie

That pineapple may have come from the Bahamas but they're from South America. And just what is a Bahamas pineapple?

Iunepeace

^ lol Tommy; I'd be interested in the answer to that question as well.

As to allowing the Chiquita and Delmonte companies to open commercial plantations here or whatnot to "help" the economy, that's a bit of a double-edged sword. While it could possibly provide some economic stimulus to the country and give many more persons jobs, those companies have a bad habit of turning the countries their plantations are located in to "banana countries" where the cheap source of labor (many largely uneducated and in-need-of-a-job laborers) is exploited, and the economy of the country is dominated by the production and export of said bananas, in some cases to the detriment of other potentially viable and crucially diverse sources of national revenue and economic activity.

That said, hog bananas taste awesome! I think a few of the bananas I put in the yard this year are that variety

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Weather

TommyMacLuckie

Imagine what would happen to the surrounding ocean environment from all the fertilizer and run off. The Bahamas don't exactly have elevation and topography in their favor like some of the Caribbean islands do.