The sad story of the rejected bananas used as cattle feed: a study in the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica

Abstract

Costa Rica produces about a million tons of bananas for export. Changing from year to year, 20 to 30% is rejected for export. These bananas could be used as a supplement for cattle feeding. The purpose of this study was to quantify the input of bananas into farms with milk cows and to construct a macro-nutrient balance for these farms in the Atlantic Zone. The use of bananas means for the macro-elements an extra input of about +15.45 g N, + 1.62 g P + 62.55 g K per cow per day. The costs of using bananas depends on the transport facilities of the farmers. The rich farmers with their own transportation have less costs using bananas that the farmers without their own transport.