Case Study — A Worked 5-Hectare Banana Plan

This page runs the whole knowledge base on a single scenario so you can see how the pieces connect. The numbers are illustrative, not a forecast — substitute your own at each step. Follow along with the calculators and you will have a defensible plan, not a guess.

Step 1 — Site and soil#

Run a soil test before choosing anything else, and interpret it with the Soil test interpreter. Suppose the result is slightly acid (pH 5.6) with low phosphorus — an acid preset in the tool would flag pH and P as constraints and rank liming first.

The site suits banana; the constraint is acidity and phosphorus, both fixable before planting.

Step 2 — Variety and planting material#

Choose a dessert type matched to the market, and start from certified tissue-culture or clean sucker material — see Planting material and tissue culture. Clean material costs more per plant and saves far more than it costs by avoiding bunchy top and weevil.

Step 3 — Density#

Using the Planting density calculator at 2.0 × 3.0 m:

Plants per ha = 10,000 ÷ (2.0 × 3.0) = 1,667/ha
Whole block   = 1,667 × 5         = 8,335 plants

Density of 1,667/ha is the mainstream dessert planting figure and sets up every later calculation.

Step 4 — Irrigation#

Size on peak demand, not the average, with the Irrigation sizing calculator. At 8 mm/day over 5 ha, 12 h/day, 80% efficiency and a 20% margin:

Daily need  = 50,000 m² × 8 ÷ 1,000     = 400 m³/day
Required    = 400 ÷ 12 ÷ 0.80           = 41.7 m³/h
Design flow = 41.7 × 1.20               = 50.0 m³/h
Pump power  = 2.725 × 50 × 30 ÷ 0.65 ÷ 1000 = 6.3 kW at 30 m head

Then schedule it with the Irrigation scheduler: at 6 mm/day ETc and 3 mm/day dry-season rain the net use is 3 mm/day, and with a 0.4 m root zone the block can go about 6 days between irrigations if you prefer soak-and-dry.

Step 5 — Nutrition#

Plan about 250 g N per mat per year, split into 4–6 applications, adjusted to the soil test — see Nutrition. The Fertiliser calculator turns that into product per application and keeps any single dose within the safe limit.

Step 6 — Protection#

Budget for Sigatoka control, weevil trapping and bunchy-top hygiene. Calibrate every spray with the Sprayer calibration calculator so the label rate actually reaches the leaf, and keep every application legal for the destination market via Certification and market compliance.

Step 7 — Yield and pack-out#

Feed the block into the Yield forecast calculator: 1,667 plants, 92% productive stand, 18 kg bunches, an 11-month ratoon cycle, 85% saleable.

Stands      = 1,667 × 0.92        = 1,534/ha
Harvests/yr = 12 ÷ 11             = 1.09
Bunches     = 1,534 × 1.09        = 1,673/ha/yr
Gross yield = 1,673 × 18 kg       = 30.1 t/ha
Saleable    = 30.1 × 0.85         = 25.6 t/ha   → 128 t across 5 ha

Run that through the Pack-out and grade calculator at 12 kg cartons: 10,665 cartons a year, split into premium, standard and processing grades.

Step 8 — Budget and cash flow#

At $0.30/kg the saleable crop is worth about $38,400 a year at the farm gate. Take it to the Farm budget calculator for cost per kilogram and break-even, and to the Cash-flow planner for the monthly reality:

Step 9 — Records and certification#

Every number above depends on records you cannot reconstruct later. Start the logs in Record-keeping templates on day one, and check the destination's rules with Certification and market compliance.

What this case study proves#

1. The calculators chain together — density → irrigation → nutrition → yield → pack-out → budget → cash flow — and each one refines the next.
2. Profit and cash are different problems. This block is profitable on paper and still needs $13,000 more cash than it has.
3. The earliest decisions dominate. Site, planting material and density lock in the rest; nothing downstream fixes a bad start.
4. Clean material and calibration are cheap insurance against the losses that quietly erase the margin.

Next steps#

• Work your own numbers from the top: How to plan a banana farm.
• Understand the whole system first: Banana farming 101.
• Fine-tune the biggest lever: Crop care.
• Protect the pack-out: Packing house and post-harvest handling.