Growing bananas in the wet tropical lowlands

Abstract

Bananas were a staple carbohydrate food for Kubo people who lived near the Strickland River, NNW of Nomad, in the Western Province. In this area of very high rainfall, small gardens were cut in secondary-growth forest on the banks of larger streams and the river. The garden areas were not burned and they were not fenced. Men and women shared the work and the gardens produced bunches of bananas between 8.5 and 20 months after planting. After 20 months the gardens were abandoned. When bananas were in short supply the people relied on sago and, because both these foods contain little protein, their diet included many kinds of wild animals. Some differences are described between the gardening practices of Kubo people and of other Papua New Guineans who grow bananas in regions of seasonal rainfall.