Naturally-grown Bananas & Papayas for Sale

It’s been a little more than a year since I’ve planted quite a number of papayas and bananas at the farm. Some didn’t make it, some are diseased, some grew unexpectedly well, some bloomed a little late, and now, quite a fair bit are ripe for harvest. A wide range of outcomes for a batch of plants with very little care, water and fertiliser.

Despite the lack of attention due to insufficient time and absence of workers, these naturally-grown bananas and papayas taste delicious! I’ve had quite a consistent but limited supply for the past 2 months for papayas and only recently have begun harvesting 2 large bunches of bananas, with an estimated 8-10 more bunches to come.

The odd addition of a naturally and immensely sweet pineapple amongst the early batch of papayas harvested for sale.
The odd addition of a naturally and immensely sweet pineapple amongst the early batch of papayas harvested for sale.
One of the best papayas from a single tree at the farm. Each weighs about 1.5 kg.
One of the best papayas from a single tree at the farm. Each weighs about 1.5 kg.
My first harvest of berangan bananas from the farm.
My first harvest of berangan bananas from the farm.
Second bunch of bananas harvested in a week: a Pisang Raja variety. Best eaten fried but equally delicious eaten as is.
Second bunch of bananas harvested in a week: a Pisang Raja variety. Best eaten fried but equally delicious eaten as is.

These bananas and papayas are grown naturally without the use of chemicals. In fact, I would aptly describe their growing conditions as being in total neglect. The only care undertaken were perhaps initial watering, preventing weeds from smothering them and wrapping of fruits.

A banana grove planted and flourishing in one of two banana circles created at the farm. There's a mixture of papayas and tapioca in there.
A banana grove planted and flourishing in one of two banana circles created at the farm. There’s a mixture of papayas and tapioca in there.
A somewhat neglected food forest of primarily bananas and papayas.
A somewhat neglected food forest of primarily bananas and papayas.
The first two bunches of bananas coming to fruition after almost 15+ months. This area is partially shaded by tall 30+ year old durian trees. Lack of care, fertilisation and sunlight may have contributed to the longer time they took to bear fruits.
The first two bunches of bananas coming to fruition after almost 15+ months. This area is partially shaded by tall 30+ year old durian trees. Lack of care, fertilisation and sunlight may have contributed to the longer time they took to bear fruits.
Pisang Raja (King of Bananas) for deep frying and the more mainstream local Pisang Berangan that tastes much more superior than imported ones.
Pisang Raja (King of Bananas) for deep frying and the more mainstream local Pisang Berangan that tastes much more superior than imported ones.

My current selling price for both papayas and bananas is RM 6 per kg (limited time only). A little higher than conventional commercial pricing due to no use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides. Organic (though, a term I would prefer to avoid for many reasons) prices vary between RM 6-8 per kg. That’s normally with official certification. I don’t have that, yet, at the moment. Hence, the “limited time only” clause on my current RM 6 per kg price. When I do get the certification, I will consider raising to RM 7 or RM 8 per kg. Therefore, my customers would have to purchase based on trust at the moment.

As my supply is pretty limited, I’m not able to sell via organic shops or other middle man. In fact, I’m unable to imagine selling wholesale for the foreseeable future. With a small farm and lack of workers, I will have to make do with a smaller supply but selling direct to discerning customers. There’s a lot of marketing and consumer awareness to be worked on in the creation of a premium trusted brand. For cost control purposes and sustainability measures, I’m only able to sell within the farm vicinity (Martin and Lenggeng towns, perhaps even as far as Seremban and no further), and around my house. Currently, all the sales are happening in the Klang Valley region and I foresee that will be the case for the time being.

I’m only keeping less than 10% of the produce for own consumption. These are usually less than perfect looking ones due to some blemishes or accidental cuts/bumps inflicted during harvesting and transport.  I’m afraid I’m perpetuating the unhealthy phenomenon of favouring “pretty” looking fruits to purchase which leads to a lot of food wastage in our modern day society.

Take this bunch of berangan below as an example. Looks quite beaten up in physical appearance but once peeled, it looks and taste just as good. If only consumers are aware of the natural course of growth and journey food takes to arrive at whatever physical state; it takes time to manage these expectations and the erroneous notion of what is considered ok and edible. Until then, these are going to be for own consumption, unless customers specifically indicate their acceptance of such qualities.

Berangan banana. Looks sickly...delicious!
Berangan banana. Looks sickly…delicious!
Aromatic, spicy, tasty with a tinge of sourness and a wide depth of saliva-inducing flavours exuding from this simple looking, locally and naturally grown yummy berangan banana from the farm.
Aromatic, spicy, tasty with a tinge of sourness and a wide depth of saliva-inducing flavours exuding from this simple looking, locally and naturally grown yummy berangan banana from the farm.

Almost 2 years into running this farm (albeit not 100% full time yet as I don’t live at the farm), I’m still struggling to generate sustainable income. It has been a very difficult process without workers and a challenging hilly terrain with limited open space for maximum sunlight. The current hot weather is also wrecking havoc at the farm. Thankfully, this part of the farm where bananas and papayas are growing has no monkey or wild boar problems as opposed to another section of the farm.

It’s a relief and I’m grateful to be able to enjoy this batch of harvests since planting back in Oct 2019. Hence, it’s been a duration of between 15 to 18 months from planting to harvest. That’s an unacceptable time frame for commercial farms. It just goes to show that unfavourable growing conditions and lack of care lengthens the time to reaping a harvest. Papayas and bananas can fruit in as fast as 12 months should there be enough care, sunlight, water and fertiliser. However, this is not a commercial farm. Hence, the idea is to grow food naturally with as little resources as possible, instead of having endless row upon rows of monoculture crops.

To mitigate these limiting environmental factors and lack of workers, I would even need to resort to more permaculture strategies in designing and planting my bananas and papayas. That means having my bananas either in banana circles or constantly moist area to capitalise on natural energy flows for maximum positive results. An integrated farming approach that utilises free ranging animals would work to my advantage for a well-designed permaculture system that generates/maintain its own fertility and pest control purposes. The vast diversity of crops available with no one particular focus on a plant type naturally leads to lower production output, albeit an approach that is more environmentally friendly with higher quality crops. In fact, production may even increase with improvement in soil fertility.

The distinctive boat-like cross section appearance of the Pisang Raja.
The distinctive boat-like cross section appearance of the Pisang Raja.
Roughly 17 kg bunch of Pisang Raja with 8 combs.
Roughly 17 kg bunch of Pisang Raja with 8 combs.
A typical order of 2 Pisang Berangan combs at 2.2 kg.
A typical order of 2 Pisang Berangan combs at 2.2 kg.
Pisang Raja combs all carved out ready for sale.
Pisang Raja combs all carved out ready for sale.

Having planted, care for, harvested, marketed, sold and delivering the produce of my own hands, brings with it much joy, pride and satisfaction. However, no amount of feel-good factor and “technical permaculture talk” are going to ensure the true operational sustainability of the farm if the returns are miniscule. In other words, nothing beats having a profitable return to make sure I’m able to be in business to supply good healthy food unless one is financially sound. Naturally, this calls for the increased of production quantities to meet demand and generate a critical mass of products for sale. Hence, the current efforts to prepare more than a hundred papaya and banana seedlings, along with a multitude of other edible crops in anticipation of the wet season for planting.

A photography studio doubling up as a market floor space for fresh farm produce. Weighing, packing and fulfilling orders.
A photography studio doubling up as a market floor space for fresh farm produce. Weighing, packing and fulfilling orders.

From 2 kg to 7 kg of bananas and papayas sold to more than 10 customers, over the past few weeks, I’ve come to realise the true value of hard work and money. Not that I didn’t before that. It just put things in much clearer perspective. All the work and up to delivery for a sum of RM 15 or RM 35 and anywhere in between; I would need much more than that to survive and ensure the farm keeps running. That means having multiple income streams, one of which includes selling naturally-raised free range duck eggs.

Grappling with this stark reality in the face of sky rocketing fuel prices adds a further stinging bite to an already tightening belt in this pandemic. It is in light of this pressing need to produce more for sale would I understand the perverted need to use crazy amount of chemicals on mono crop commercial plantations. Otherwise, how to make it? I’m living and breathing the alternative approach to farming and hoping it would be viable. It will be.

Naturally-grown Bananas & Papayas for Sale

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