Quote:
Originally Posted by PR-Giants
For 20 years my banana farm has had 100% weevils, 100% sigatoka, 0% fertilizer, crazy rainfall, and hurricanes,
and I've always considered it to be Banana Heaven.
The great thing about banana farming, is that every day you get the opportunity to improve your situation.
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PR-Giants & All,
The big problem with tropical farming, in my opinion, is that the people who write the handbooks; the people who decide extension policy; and the people who create the models that the agricultural banks consult - have most likely never farmed continuously over even a half-decade.
The greatest obstacle to farming is the chaotic (mathematically) response of the farm to weather and other abiotic & biotic factors.
I have tended to grow bananas in small blocks of about 500 sf to 10,000 sf separated by other vegetation. While I do see correlation with such things as relative humidity, surface & internal drainage and sigatoka... by and large there are "other factors" that inject totally surprising responses into the mix... I can only surmise as to the mechanisms responsible...
My key rules from a small business perspective: keep costs as low as possible; make output as varied as possible; and
don't ever borrow on your expected crop.
The losers are ALWAYS the specialist farmers who go by the book; high inputs; single crop; maximise production; fertilise the hell out of the place; stand by with expensive pesticides; insecticides; herbicides etc. And those who believe that a projection on a piece of paper will come true.
You have to be able to diagnose a problem fast; come up with a fix - and I repeat - NEVER bet the farm on a single crop.
shannon
shannon.di.corse@gmail.com