Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The fruit companies also incorporated herbicides into their produc-
tion practices as part of their strategy to boost yields. In the early 1970s,
UnitedBrands'sweedcontrolincludedbothmanualweedingwithmache-
tes and herbicides. According to the company's 1972 operations manual,
herbicides reduced weeding costs by 30-50 percent, lowered the risk of
spreadingMoko,andprovedmoreeffectiveineradicatingspeciesofplants
that were potential pathogen hosts. Herbicides used on banana planta-
tionsduringthe1960sand1970sincludedDalapon,Diuron,andParaquat.
WorkersappliedDalapon-Diuronmixtureswithmistblowers;themanual
advised that Diuron-Paraquat mixes be applied with knapsack sprayers
in order to minimize damage to banana plants from drifting herbicides.
The operations manual further instructed field supervisors to use knap-
sacksprayerswhenapplyingParaquatbecauseitis''toxictohumanlungs,''
but it added that workers had to wear masks when applying Paraquat
with mistblowers suggesting that the latter situation occurred at least on
occasion.
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United Brands also instructed supervisors to providewater for
workerstowashtheirhandsandfacesbeforeeating,drinking,orsmoking.
The intensive use of fertilizers and herbicides was largely a result of
the fruit companies' interest in boosting yields, but hefty bunch weights
alonedidnotmakeafirst-ratebanana.Followingtheconversiontoboxed
Cavendish varieties, research agendas increasingly focused on factors in-
fluencing the visual appearance of the peel. For example, in 1966 United
Fruit's research department declared that ''a major portion'' of their dis-
ease control agenda focused on fruit spot diseases ''in view of the impor-
tance of unblemished fruit in the Chiquita quality program.''
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The com-
pany's fruit spot control program combined the removal of dry leaves
from banana plants, weekly fungicide (Maneb) treatments, and fruit bag-
ging (covering maturing bunches with polyethylene bags). Covering ba-
nana bunches with plastic bags provided protection against a number
of pests and increased bunch weights, but the bags created very humid
microenvironments in which populations of aphids grew rapidly. The
aphids themselves were not considered to be a problem, but a fungus
(sooty mold) that grew on the honeydew secreted by aphids ''detracted''
from the fruit's appearance.
Asearlyas1959,StandardFruitbeganaddinginsecticidestotheplastic
bags in order to control aphid populations. United Fruit workers dusted
bags with Diazinon, an acutely toxic chemical.
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Using both electric and
hand blowers, workers coated the insides of polyethylene bags with a 25
percent Diazinon powder. One pound of the powder treated about 200
bags. In Honduras, the bagging operation required 75 dusters and a ''sub-
