Benguela – Banana production in the province of Benguela has increased significantly in recent years, rising from 15,000, in 2016, to 127,000 tons/year in the 2022/23, ANGOP learned Saturday.
Behind the increase in the production of this fruit is the rehabilitation of irrigation channels in the main valleys of the province, with emphasis on the water transfer tunnel to the Halo river and, from there, to Cavaco.
Data from the Agriculture sector, to which ANGOP had access today, indicate that before national independence, the province of Benguela was the leader in banana production in the country, with 300,000 tons/year.
By the way, the director of the Provincial Office of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, José da Silva, said that banana production covers an area of around 1,835 hectares, currently representing approximately 127,000 tons/year.
Regarding the surplus of the product, José da Silva said that there are support programs for the sector, which aim at the industrial use of banana in order to improve the income of producers.
He highlighted that the main banana producers are concentrated in the irrigated valleys of Cavaco, Dombe Grande, Catumbela and Culango.
Producers
To return to the golden times, farmers in the province of Benguela are increasingly resorting to the use of modern irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation, widely used in other countries such as Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica.
Farmer Manuel António Monteiro thus stands out as one of the “pioneers” to introduce John Deer machines with cabs, seeders, state-of-the-art implements, gigantic automatic irrigation pivots, bulldozzers and levelers to Benguela.
Regarded as one of the largest banana producers, with areas from the Cavaco valley to Cubal, the businessman aims to obtain a license to export bananas produced in Benguela.
“We do not export directly because we need to have a license which is currently in the final phase so that we can export to several countries around the world”, he highlighted. JH/CRB/DOJ
