How easy it is to grow Bananas, Growing fruit plants as a major challenge in my locality.
Hello Hive.
Growing fruit plants is gradually becoming history in this locality.
People prefer to grow corn and grains that they believe that it will their stomach much faster.
Bananas can't serve for lunch, they are only supplements added to our meal table.
Cassava, yams and other tubers are what people grow here including other grains like rice, beans corn and millet
While I have seen fruits plantations like orange, bananas, palm fruits mangoes and others in large land space in my hometown in Benue state.
Kware state here have consistenly burnt away the few fruit trees I have seen to create more farming space for grains especially in this locality.
Meanwhile even the market for fruit has actually diminished as well since people can barely buy enough food to eat before thinking about any spare money they can use to buy fruits.
Hence in the nearest future I wonder how many fruit growing farmers we will have around.
We are fortunate to have some bananas growing by itself beside our rice fields. And why we grow grains and other food plants it is an additional benefits to have fruit crops growing around here.
Some homes have planted oranges, guava, mangoes, pawpaw and some other fruits in their compound. But for some of us who happen to live in rented apartments you cannot plant fruit crops like this in someone else property. My plans for a home garden/homestead has been halted for this reason.
The landlord doesn't want to see anything green in the compound.
Saying that it makes his house dirty.
He prefers to see the brown sharp sand everywhere.
I haven't had the privileged to grow bananas from the bud stage, but I have watched how smaller branches bud from this one and has spread across the farm.
It might just be some good opportunity for me to grow bananas following these closely to know the basic requirements.
The soil here is a Clay-loamy soil rich in organic nutrient from cow dungs and deposit from the river close by that often overflow to dumps its deposits here.
Bananas have found the right temperature and weather condition here which doesn't get too hot to burn down the leaves like I have seen serious drought in other places.
And with little to no care I believe that we can have banana plantation all over the place.
Bananas wouldn't be needing much to grow and produce its fruits.
Landlord can't tolerate any tenant growing fruits in his compound. Don't you think informing your landlord your intention for banana growing in his house may give you the opportunity to plant. Fruits in Nigeria are hot cake as food scarcity keep deteriorating.
Banana might not be advisable and keeps the house dirty, I wanted to plant crops that won't grow so tall but have been waiting for his approval ever since.
Thanks for stopping by dear.
Such a shame because Bananas grow so easily and cheaply. They grow where the trunk/leaves drop.
They are full of vital nutrients, do fill the stomach, just as much as the other starchy/ grainy crops and can be used in sooo many savoury and sweet dishes and can be cooked so many different ways.
You can eat them when they're yellow as most people do, but you can also eat them when they're still green and there much better for you then too.
And your climate there is absolutely perfect for them.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/bananas
Have you thought about getting together some people in your complex or your school and finding a small plot of land and getting it ratified by the local council as a local community garden?
People power equals banana power!
That's is one good idea you mention.
Let me see how it goes.
Any thing is worth a try- especially when you put it into terms that people can relate too- and that term is MONEY and SAVINGS...