Banana trees produce fruit all year-round, which means that we always have plenty of people helping us in the paddocks and the packing sheds.
Interested in working on the banana farms? Here’s some of the jobs you may be asked to do:
Harvesting
Harvesting involves lowering 60-85kg bunches of bananas on your shoulder as they are cut from the tree and then carrying them to the trailer for transportation to the packing shed. This job is also commonly known as ‘humping’. Harvesting also involves learning the safe use a cane knife to perform the job of cutting the bunch from the tree in rotation with the team member humping the bunches. This is a very physical job and requires a considerable level of fitness and strength.
Bell-Injecting, De-Leafing, De-Suckering
These paddock-based jobs are necessary to ensure the optimal growth of the next generation of bananas. They involve removing any unwanted plants (known as suckers) and excess leaves that may hinder the quality of the fruit. This also ensures the bells (baby bunches) aren’t competing for essential nutrients and have ideal growing conditions to avoid pest and disease.
Bagging
Bagging requires the use of a machine which lifts the operator up to the banana bunches. This allows the operator to prune and place a bag over the bunch to aid growth and protect it from pests. This bag will remain on the bunch during the 10-18 weeks from emerging as bell and growing to harvest size.
De-Handing, Grading and Clustering
These tasks are a joint effort aimed at ensuring the quality of our fruit meets market specifications. Hands of bananas are cut from the bunch and placed on a grading belt where they are graded for non-conforming bananas. The hands of bananas as grown on the bunch are required to be cut into clusters of 3-8 bananas appropriate for consumer purchase. All three jobs work together to scan the fruit for defects that deem the fruit non-conforming and ensure only quality fruit proceeds to the packers.
Packing
Our packers skilfully place the hands of bananas into boxes, making sure that they are packed in such a way to avoid damage during transit. The packers also conduct a final inspection of the fruit to ensure only high-quality bananas are sent to market. This is one of the more challenging jobs on the farm where a packer can quantify the day’s work with how many boxes they have packed.