LA CONCORDIA, Ecuador — Masahiro Tanabe, 57, the sole Japanese running a banana plantation in Ecuador, is building a firm foothold in the Japanese market with his philosophy of producing safe and tasty fruit.
He operates the 250-hectare plantation on the suburbs of La Concordia, 100 km west of Quito and right on the equator. There are about 6,000 banana plantations in the country, making it the world's largest exporter of the fruit.
He describes his farming method as "nature circulation." Bananas are easily damaged, and he does not ship about 20 percent of his harvest to Japan. Unshipped bananas are crushed and fermented for reuse as compost.