Mbanza Kongo - At least 105 tons of bananas are produced every day at Girassol farm, located in Musserra commune, Nzeto municipality, Zaire province, agronomist Vitorino Carneiro told ANGOP on Saturday.
Last season, the farm, which covers an area of around 200 hectares, produced 80 tons of bananas a day, Vitorino Carneiro said, adding that the increase in banana production at the farm is due to the introduction of new farming technologies.
He added that currently around 2,000 bunches of bananas are harvested every day at the farm, whose produce is sold to municipalities in the interior of Zaire, as well as to Luanda and Huambo provinces.
Established in 2016, Fazenda Girassol used to export bananas on a large scale to some European countries, but was suspended about a year ago in order to serve the domestic market.
According to the manager, in addition to bananas, the farm also produces vegetables on a large scale, especially cabbage and lettuce, with a daily production of around one ton.
The pitahaya, with 25 of the 275 hectares of production area, completes the crops in production on the farm, which has a workforce of 966 workers, 60 percent of whom are women.
Vitorino Carneiro said the Girassol farm controls more than 4,000 head of sheep, while 10 animals are slaughtered every week, the meat being sold in some supermarkets in the country's capital, Luanda.
Among the difficulties faced by the farm, he pointed to the lack of electricity from the public grid, a situation that has led to high costs for the project's management in the purchase of fuel.
“The farm is powered by a generator that consumes 250 liters/hour of diesel. That's a lot of expenses to keep the project running smoothly,” he said.
Girassol farm was visited by the governor of Zaire, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, who took a long look at the economic enterprise, which works with national and expatriate workers.
The fishing municipality of Nzeto is about 230 km from the city of Mbanza Kongo, the capital of Zaire province. DA/JL/AMP
