Its exploitation in Bouillante, in Côte-sous-le-Vent in Guadeloupe, has nothing to do, he assures, with the customs of before, when the elders copiously sprinkled the trees with pesticides of all kinds, including chlordecone.
This product, which is supposed to fight against the banana weevil, has locally caused soil pollution with persistence of several centuries and one of the highest incidence rates of prostate cancer in the world.
Banned belatedly in the West Indies in 1993, when it was already banned in France, it caused a tough scandal. To get rid of it, producers have changed practices “for years”, recalls David Mirre, covering hat and rubber boots.
Grass, fallow, hedges
To start, we let the grass grow between the planes. “Before, a field was only banana trees: it had to be + clean +”, says the producer, pointing to the aisles. On the ground, the brown earth “burnt by phytosanitary products”, in his words, is now covered with grass and the remains of banana trees that have already given fruit. “By degrading, it makes a natural compost”, explains the farmer, while a mongoose spins between the banana trees.
Elsewhere, fallow land has been reintroduced, hedges appear around the plots to promote biodiversity, resulting in a carbon footprint, updated in January, revealing the efforts undertaken.
According to the Union of Banana Producers Groups of Guadeloupe and Martinique (UGBPAN), the use of pesticides has decreased by 38% in 15 years, that of phytosanitary products by 75%. Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 14% thanks in particular to the 26 liquefied natural gas ships used by the shipowner CMA-CGM to transport West Indian bananas over 8,000 kilometers to Europe, or one container per week. who travels thanks to biofuel.
Producers are also trying other cards to “conquer new brands” and “resist”, as UGBPAN says, after a “complicated” year 2021 and changes in practices of large retailers who now buy centrally .
On the one hand, they rely on the search for new varieties that are more resistant to diseases and insects. They thus tested the “Pointe d’or” banana, which no longer requires phytosanitary products for its production. But its blackening put off consumers who love spotless and calibrated bananas. Research continues.
Still little organic
Producers are also counting on new labels to recognize their efforts to protect the environment.
Already labeled sustainable agriculture and fair trade, Mr. Mirre is in the process of obtaining high environmental value (HVE) certification. Around 300 plantations already have this label, launched in 2020, which occasionally allows the kilo to be sold for 30 cents more expensive, the difference being used to finance eco-responsible practices.
The HVE label “qualifies the performance ratios on the farm in relation to the phytosanitary strategy”, explains Mr. Mirre. “For me, it doesn’t change anything, he says, shrugging his shoulders. My banana, I will always produce it the same way but I will sell it for more. And that reassures the consumer”.
But this more environmentally friendly agriculture has a cost that smallholders cannot necessarily afford, underlines Assaupamar, an environmental association in Martinique. It is no longer enough to spray treatments, you have to clear brush to control weeds or recycle the blue plastics used to prevent birds from pecking banana bunches, lists David Mirre.
It does not erase either soil pollution or the persistent bad image of the sector, notes Pascal Tourbillon of Assaupamar for whom “it is very difficult to obtain exact figures on the products used in Martinique”.
As for organic, which means no longer treating at all, very few producers have adopted it. Production costs would soar for not necessarily increased profitability, argues Mr. Mirre.
AFP