CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC):

Banana production is on the rise here and could reach record levels by year-end, barring unfavourable weather or serious disease infestation, says Hilary La Force, head of the Banana Emergency Recovery Unit.

He told CMC Friday that after a poor harvest last year, the industry was showing signs of recovery.

?This year, so far, production of fruit has been relatively high when compared to the first quarter last year,? he said.

He said production was in excess of 7,000 tonnes, which is way over the 4,000 tonnes produced by this time last year.

?There is, in fact, a potential to produce almost 40,000 tonnes, and I do not believe that I am overly optimistic, but certainly barring unforeseen circumstances we could achieve record levels this year as compared to what we have seen in over 10 years,? he said.

Banana production last year reached 33,000 tonnes which was lower than the production for the previous year.

Government has already announced plans to provide significant assistance to the industry and has called for the setting up of one major banana company to replace the six currently in existence.