This is a typical image of the south of France; now the home to an assortment very a-typical European fruit: the banana, the papaya, and the mango.
“I’m probably the only papaya grower in France!” says Dominique Berdin, laughing to the national station France24, when they visited her tropical fruit growing operation in the Var Department, near Toulon.
Tucked inside her greenhouse in the commune of Ollioules, some 20 different tropical fruits like passion fruit and pineapples grow free of pesticides, all year round.
“Our climate is now suitable for these crops,” she said, mentioning how the warming of the south of France over recent decades has led to this breakthrough. “If we are willing to adapt it might turn into an opportunity to grow our own tropical fruit instead of shipping it from across the globe.”
France24 also spoke with Johan Bultel, a young agronomist who works in tandem with Berdin, yet who specializes in bananas. His work also takes place in a greenhouse, but unlike Berdin, extends also to the exposed windy slopes of his land. Here, he cultivates 26 different banana varieties from tropical climes as diverse as Honduras and the Reunion Islands.
At least one, he believes, will flourish in his climate, even during wintertime.
Local farmer Isabelle Pertois shared how her own experience facing Europe’s recent heatwaves convinced her to start planting bananas, perhaps some of the seedlings sold by Bultel—his main source of income.
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Pertois used to grow organic vegetables of all different varieties, but scorching summer temperatures became too routine, and she had to shift tactics. Taking inspiration from Spain and North Africa, her tomatoes and squash now grow beneath the shade of citrus trees.
It won’t be long before the banana trees cover her whole patch in partial shade, she said, marveling at how they had ripped their way through the roof of the greenhouse.
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“It’s like I’m in the Caribbean!” she said.
Another local grower—of dragon fruit—has doubled his yields with the help of local agronomists exploring the new cropping strategies, but neither he, nor Pertois, nor Berdin are alone on this strange new agricultural journey. Many other local growers are also experimenting with tropical fruit, together demonstrating that even if the climate is changing, the exceptional standard of French produce doesn’t have to.
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