Banana grower reassures consumers about local product
Banana grower reassures consumers about local product
Nearly all large bananas (kuay hom) sold in Vientiane are not grown with excessive amounts of chemicals and are sourced from Borikhamxay province, not China, according to a leading banana grower.
Lao Banana Company Managing Director Mr Ole Andersen told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that probably 98 percent of large bananas sold in the capital are produced by his firm and not by Chinese companies.
The public should not worry about chemicals in our bananas when they buy them to eat because buyers can see our company's sticker. Furthermore, the provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department has certified that our bananas do not contain chemicals, Mr Andersen said.
Mr Andersen stressed that the distribution of bananas from his farm recently has gone down to 60 percent of what it used to be and some were provided to school children in the province after newspapers in Laos have published numerous articles about the bad conditions at Chinese banana farms in the country.
To address the issue, Mr Andersen stated that the co mpany has asked the department's officials to test their bananas in order to certify that they do not contain any chemicals.
Thus, the officials visited the banana farm in Pakxan last week and chose some banana bunches to test and took them to their laboratory.
The dep artment issued the certificate for the company, where it is clearly stated that there are no traces of chemicals in the bananas. The certificate thereby shows that the bananas are safe and healthy to eat.
Mr Andersen highlighted that the company is selling the fruit as eco-friendly' because the bananas are grown without the use of excessive chemicals. The company uses only normal fertilisers and only under strict controls.
It is very healthy to eat bananas; they contain a lot of potassium and other vitamins. When the bananas are grown and ripened by our company then you can be sure that you get good and healthy bananas, Mr Andersen added.
Lao Banana Company has delivered bananas to the Vientiane markets since 2009. The company has a 30-year land lease in Borikhamxay province after reaching an agreement with the govern ment.
The company is at present employing around 100 full time local workers all year round to take care of 90 ha of banana plantations in Pakxan and Pakkading disticts. The banana plantations are grown with compost and normal fertiliser.
The policy and aim is to keep producing healthy bananas for sale in Laos, especially in Vientiane. As Lao Banana Company is growing bananas all year around, and year after year on the same land in Borikhamxay the company w ants to take care of and improve the soil in order to keep growing more and better fruit.
By adding more organic matter every year to the land, the soil is not only kept healthy but the company is actually improving the fertility of the land.
