More than 13,000 hectares of Brazilian banana farms are under water following floods in the Vale do Ribeira region, website Revistagloborural.globo.com reported.

The region in the south of São Paulo was expecting around one million metric tons (MT) of banana production this year but around 40% of farms have been inundated, the story reported.

Coordinator of Integral Technical Assistance director Luiz Antonio de Campos Penteado, told the website the floods are the second-largest in the region's history, affecting the cities of Eldorado, Sete Barras and Registro.

Experts estimate the floods may have covered up to 15,000 hectares of land, in the region's most productive areas with annual yields of 45MT per hectare.  In contrast, the higher unaffected areas tend to have annual yields of around 25MT per hectare.

Penteado said the force of the water could have knocked down trees, while in some cases mud was reaching one meter (3.2ft) up the plants, with the possibility of root rot after 36 hours of submersion, the story reported.

He said increased spending would be needed for two years to recover, while this year's harvest outflow would be delayed by around 10 days.

Photo: R7 Noticias

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