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Banana snack industry goes stale

Not so long ago, the Central Java town of Majenang was famous for being the home of sale pisang, a unique snack made with bananas, but recently the market changed and the local snack industry faded to a fraction of its former success. Majenang, one of 23 districts in Cilacap regency in the far west of the province - bordering with Banjar and Ciamis regencies in West Java - has about 30 small factories producing the snack. Before the 1998 economic crisis, there were around 100 such producers, leading Cilacap administration to come up with the idea of making the snack the icon of Majenang. But with the crisis, the plan hit snags and many cottage industries were forced out of business. More than a decade later, the situation has yet to improve. "Before the crisis I could sell 2 or 3 tons of fried banana sweets to Jakarta. But things are difficult now," Yayat, a 61-year-old sale pisang business owner, told The Jakarta Post in Majenang. Today, Yayat produces only about 200 kilograms of sale pisang a month, and 99 percent of this is sold in Majenang. The snacks are sold in 250-gram packages, each costing around Rp 25,000 (US$2). Another snack producer, Juremi, said that before the crisis she could send 2 tons of sale pisang to Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya each month. "Now we only sell sale pisang for the local market," the 60-year-old said. Juremi said most of the snack producers were struggling to survive. "What's important is that business survives. If there are buyers in the city, that's enough. Sometimes we get an order from outside the city, but this is unreliable," she said. "Once, a distributor from outside the city wanted to place an order, but the price he offered was too low to cover our production costs. Rather than suffering losses, we preferred not to take it." Making sale pisang does not take long. Ripe bananas are cut into slices and dried in the sun. "If the sun is bright, the bananas will dry out in two days. But in a rainy season like this, it takes about four days," Juremi said. The dried bananas are then smeared with flour and deep-fried. After being drained, the banana chips are ready to be packaged and sold. The sale pisang business has supported many, including farmers and traders who sell raw bananas to cottage industries in Majenang, as well as banana snack makers such as Juremi and Yayat, and the vendors. Majenang district head, Heru Susedyo, said he was aware of the stagnant business situation. "Sale pisang was once so popular that the Cilacap administration planned to make it the icon of Majenang city, but the plan could not be realized because sales keep decreasing." http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/06/

Sunday 30 November 2008

monkey with banana

Drink one liter of hot water and walk around for a few minutes immediately after sabuzhdaneto early in the morning.

Drinking a glass of warm milk before bedtime helps in easy evacuation in the morning.

Not exactly a traditional Chinese home remedy for constipation, but effective, and highly nutritious, all the same. Put 2 or 3 fresh figs or dates, many ripened bananas, honey or molasses spoon and a glass of water in blender. Mix well and drink every day or two. Suitable for adults and children.

Adaptation bananas and plantains are now grown in every humid tropical region and represents a 4-largest fruit crop in the world. The plant needs 10 - 15 months of free freezing conditions to produce a flower stalk. All but hardiest varieties stop growing when the temperature drops below 53 ° F. plant growth begins to slow to about 80 ° F and stop completely when the temperature reaches 100 ° F. High temperatures and bright sunlight will also scorch leaves and fruit, bananas, although they grow best in full sun. Freezing temperatures will kill vegetation. In most areas bananas require wind protection for best appearance and maximum yield. And are susceptible to be blown over. Bananas, especially dwarf varieties, make good container specimens if given careful attention. The plant will also need periodic repotting as the old plant dies back and new plants develop.
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