“Although there are no official statistics on how many bananas are sold in the country annually, demand for the fruit is always there,’’ said Nasharuddin Shukor, Kulim vice-president for food.
He said the company was among the pioneers to start the large-scale cultivation of Cavendish bananas in Malaysia in 1997, under its unit Kulim Montel Farm (KMF).
Montel is the company’s registered trademark and the brand name for its Cavendish bananas sold domestically and in overseas markets.
“Here (in Kluang), we decided to intercrop the bananas with the newly-planted oil palms for three years to fully utilise our planting areas in the estates,’’ said Nasharuddin.
He said, after three years, the banana plants have to make way for the oil palms as having them side by side creates competition for nutrients.
KMF manager Omar Rohani said plans are already in the pipeline to open new areas for the cultivation of bananas in the Basir Ismail, starting from now and lasting until 2017.
He said 265ha would be opened this year in the estates to be followed by 263ha in 2014, 222ha in 2015, 252ha in 2016 and 258ha in 2017.
He said the annual production of bananas at the Basir Ismail and REM Estates had increased steadily, beginning with 847 tonnes in 2008 and 2,309 tonnes in 2009.
Production in 2010 however, went down to 1,905 tonnes. The drop was due to the outbreak of diseases but went up again to 3,055 tonnes in 2011. Last year, the figure stood at 6,512 tonnes and for this year, the forecast is for 6,512 tonnes.
Omar said, in 2009 the company recorded RM3.4mil in sales from Montel Cavendish bananas. This dropped to RM2.4mil in 2010. In 2011. The figure went up to RM3.6mil, and last year it was at RM8.1mil.
“We are looking at making RM10.7mil in sales this year and we are optimistic of reaching the target based on the increase in areas planted with bananas,’’ he said.
