Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 8.10
Networks of
cableways are the norm
for transporting bunches to
the packing shed. They are
just part of the significant
capital investment neces-
sary in establishing a banana
plantation. (©Daniells)
The simplicity of having just one type to manage, in what is a long and complex
supply chain, has contributed greatly to successful marketing.
• Transnational companies are divided into administrative units from 250-400 ha
each whilst larger national growers range from 50-250 ha. Such size brings with
it economies of scale and the capacity to supply 'long lines' of uniform product
better meeting the quality specifications of large retail outlets.
• Usually there are from 0.6 to 0.8 workers required to manage one hectare. Thus
large workforces are involved and good people management is crucial. Opera-
tional procedure manuals which detail the requirements of every on-farm pro-
cedure are typically available to staff. Activities are generally broken down into
single tasks to be performed by individual workers and this is monitored and
necessary feedback provided to ensure standards are achieved.
• Most export fruit is transported to market by ship. In order to efficiently use ship-
ping space and facilitate marketing, it is necessary to predict the amount of fruit
available for harvest and sale on a weekly basis. Relatively reliable estimates are
possible once the young bunch emerges and this provides predictions about 12
weeks in advance of harvest. Weekly counts of new bunches, coupled with his-
torical information of bunch size, filling rate and expected losses, is commonly
used in the calculations.
Banana Plantations—their Impact and Contribution
The world's banana export industry has been almost entirely controlled by 3 large
fruit companies: Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte. Many countries, including those in
Latin America, depend heavily on the revenue and employment that these corpora-
tions provide. The revenue is so lucrative that many governments have gone out of
their way to attract the fruit companies to establish plantations in their country. This
has allowed transnationals to become very powerful and influential, leading to a
