SECTION 3(2)

F = Fiona
M = Martin

F: Are they hard to grow?
M: Well, yes and no. To grow them in your garden, no, not really. But to grow them commercially you need to know what you're doing.You see you only get one bunch of bananas per tree and it can take up to three years for a tree Q25 to bear fruit if you don't do anything special to it. But this period is greatly reduced with modern growing methods, particularly in plantations where you have perfect tropical conditions.
F: Right! So what are you looking at? One year? Two years?
M: No, no, around 15 months in good conditions for a tree to produce a bunch of Q26 bananas. And once you've got your bunch you cut the bunch and the plant down.
F: So how do the trees reproduce then?
M: Well, bananas are normally grown from suckers which spring up around the parent plant, usually just above the plant. They tend to like to grow uphill — Q27 or at least that's the common wisdom.
F: So that's why banana plantations are usually on hillsides, is it?
M: Yes. They grow best like that.
F: That's interesting!
M: If you plant them in rich soil and give them plenty of water at the beginning Q28 of summer, then they should be well advanced by the beginning of winter when growth virtually stops. But in a country like England, they're hard to grow, although you can grow them in a hothouse.
F: But in Australia, it's not difficult?
M: No, though even here, the growers put plastic bags around the bunches to Q29 protect them and keep them warm. If you go up to the banana growing districts, you'll see all these banana trees with plastic bags on them.
F: But how do they stop the bananas going bad before they reach the shops?
M: Well, the banana bunches are picked well before the fruit is ripe. Once you cut the bunch, the bananas stop growing but they do continue to ripen. The interesting thing is that once one banana ripens, it gives off a gas which then helps all the others to ripen so they pretty much all ripen within a few hours Q30 of each other.
F: Amazing! So do we export lots of bananas overseas, to Europe and Asia for instance?
M: Well, oddly enough, no. I believe New Zealand takes a small proportion of Q31 or 32 the crop but otherwise they're mostly grown for the domestic market, which Q32 or 31 is surprising when you think about it because we grow an enormous number of bananas each year.
F: Yes, well thank you for all that information. I'm sure the tutorial paper will go really well you certainly seem to have done your research on the subject.
M: Let's hope so.