Colombian sector shows its resilience

FEATURES

The country managed to maintain production and exports in 2020 despite fighting the pandemic and TR4, says Emerson Aguirre of Augura.

by Maura Maxwell

@maurafruitnet

ABOVE—Augura president Emerson Aguirre RIGHT—Colombia has managed to contain TR4 since its discovery in two farms in 2019 Colombian banana association Augura has warned that the double whammy of Covid and Fusarium wilt TR4 could derail the industry’s efforts to make banana production more sustainable unless retailers are prepared to pay a more realistic price for the fruit.

At the end of last year, German retailer Aldi, which sets benchmark for the retail market price in the European Union, announced that it was cu ing the price paid to producers in 2021 by €0.06 per kg, provoking a wave of protest from Colombia and other Latin American suppliers. The EU is by far Colombia’s biggest export market, taking 69 per cent of its shipment volume – or 69m boxes – last year.

But Emerson Aguirre, president of Augura, says Aldi is overlooking the cost increases related to the pandemic and the fi ght against Fusarium wilt TR4. “Growing bananas in a sustainable way requires a high level of investment, which is borne exclusively by the producer while the rest of the actors in the value chain evade any responsibility,” he explains.

Despite the complications that Covid has brought, the banana industry put in a solid performance in 2020, with exports rising by 6.5 per cent in value and 9.34 per cent in volume to US$916.2m and 109m boxes respectively. Nevertheless, Aguirre says the present direction of travel is unsustainable.

“Today we continue to face higher production and transportation costs due to the protocols implemented during the pandemic and the cost of dealing with Panama disease,” he says.

“As an industry we are commi ed to sustainability, we pay a decent wage and guarantee fair working conditions; we strive to comply with the highest quality standards and this is refl ected in the international certifi cations that we have earned. For this reason, we invite the international market to participate with the sustainability of the sector by paying a fair price for our product.”

Since its discovery on two farms in the north of the country in August 2019, Colombia has managed to successfully contain the spread of TR4. Aguirre says this is down to the coordinated eff orts from the Ministry of Agriculture, Colombian Agricultural Institute, regional and local authorities, unions and international producers and markets.

“Thanks to the rigorous biosecurity protocols that have been implemented the fungus has not spread to other farms,” he says. “Through Cenibanano, we have been working with the Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation, Agrosavia, on the development of new varieties of banana plant material with TR4 resistance, but this work is long term.” _

Publication Sponsor

Yields keep on rising

In 2020, there were 51,454ha of banana production in Colombia, an increase of 227ha on the previous year. Average per-hectare yields rose by 173 boxes to 2,134 boxes. Augura says the improvement was mainly due to to better climatic conditions in the fi rst half of the year, as well as the work done by the Banana Research Centre, Cenibanano, in providing helpful tools such as the Climate Network, a climate monitoring and forecasting project allowing growers to plan their production accordingly.