Investor Presentaiton

MVO NEDERLAND more resistant to plagues and diseases. The latter may in turn lead to more cost reduction of pest control. under The use of coverage commercial crops was another visible practice that has its origin in organic farming but has proven to be beneficial to conventional farming as well. By covering the soil with organic matter (leaves, plant residues) the soil is less likely to dry out, therefore less susceptible to effects of climate change. By planting ground covering nitrogen fixing plants this provides a natural addition of nitrogen to the soil. Brasnica Banana farm POTENTIAL MARKET PRODUCT: PRATA BANANA Sr Dailton Dos Santos Ferreira of Brasnica Frutas Tropicais Ltda has given insights in a number of the subjects discussed in this chapter. The farm produces organic bananas on 110 hectares out of the 2700 hectares it owns (the remainder is used for conventional produce). The company the biggest 23 Greenkeeper intercepts Ethylene, the hormone responsible for the maturation process. 24 Especially TR4 presents a current threat to the sector in Latin America, see: https://nos.nl/artikel/2294081-gevreesde-bananenziekte-nu-ook-in-zuid-amerika-valt-de-banaan-nog-te- redden.html. - banana producer of Brazil produces organic for the local market and is able to do so because of the ratio between organic and conventional. The investment in organic and temporary decrease in revenues while finding a market for produce is easily covered by revenues from conventional sales. Furthermore, the company collaborates with the local university of Lavras and a Spanish company to further develop Green Keeper - a product to prolong the shelf life of fruits, used during transport in sea freight – so that other varieties of banana can be sold to the European market. 23 - This could open the market for Prata banana. This is a tastier, more nutritious banana than the traditional Cavendish. If this future supply is met by demand by European buyers, it could be a step in diversifying banana production. However, this is not a guaranteed solution for the risk of fungi and other plagues (such as TR4 or 'Panama disease' and Black Sigatoka) that are threatening the current banana supply. 24 At this moment it is unclear whether Prata is more resistant to these types of diseases than Cavendish. 25 Furthermore, Agrofair remarked that the ripening process of Prata banana's occurs in a very short time period, which makes it difficult for transport towards Europe (which explains the eagerness of Brasnica to invest in the use of Green Keeper). Sr Dailton Dos Santos Ferreira (Brasnica Frutas Tropicais Ltda): "We have learned from our relatively small organic production that banana trees are more resilient and the costs for fertiliser go down when using compost. Knowledge about soil management - other than chemical fertiliser is not shared broadly in the sector" - Organic production of either Cavendish or Prata in humid tropical climates remains therefore challenging. For example, to battle Black Sigatoka (which especially thrives in humid tropical climates) 26, growers are forced to use large amounts of pesticides. This makes organic production difficult, since there are very few pesticides approved as organic. Furthermore, there is no efficient remedy to battle Panama Disease. The switch to Prata remains above all an opportunity for market diversification, but not for battling current plagues. 25 The WUR has a specialised research department on both diseases. 26 Black Sigatoka does not appear in less humid climates, such as in the north of Peru. 22

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