Farmers in the south of France are turning a warming climate into an agricultural opportunity, cultivating tropical fruit that was once imported from thousands of miles away. In the Var Department near Toulon, growers are now harvesting bananas, papayas, and mangoes — a striking departure for a region long associated with olives, lavender, and wine.
Dominique Berdin, who operates a tropical fruit growing operation in the commune of Ollioules, told France24 that she believes she is the only papaya grower in the country. Inside her greenhouse, roughly 20 different tropical fruits — including passion fruit and pineapples — grow free of pesticides throughout the year.
"Our climate is now suitable for these crops," Berdin told France24, describing how the warming of southern France over recent decades made the breakthrough possible. She added that if growers are willing to adapt, the shift could become an opportunity to produce tropical fruit domestically rather than shipping it from across the globe.
France24 also spoke with Johan Bultel, a young agronomist who works alongside Berdin and specializes in bananas. His cultivation takes place both in a greenhouse and on the exposed, windy slopes of his land, where he grows 26 different banana varieties sourced from tropical regions as diverse as Honduras and the Reunion Islands. Bultel believes at least one of those varieties will flourish in his climate, even through wintertime.
Local farmer Isabelle Pertois said her own experience with Europe's recent heatwaves convinced her to begin planting bananas, possibly including seedlings sold by Bultel, whose nursery operation serves as his main source of income. Pertois previously grew organic vegetables of many varieties, but scorching summer temperatures became too routine, forcing her to change tactics. Drawing inspiration from Spain and North Africa, she now grows tomatoes and squash beneath the shade of citrus trees.
Pertois said it will not be long before banana trees cover her entire patch in partial shade, and she marveled at how the plants had ripped their way through the roof of her greenhouse. "It's like I'm in the Caribbean!" she told France24.
Another local grower, who cultivates dragon fruit, has doubled his yields with assistance from local agronomists exploring new cropping strategies. Neither he, nor Pertois, nor Berdin is alone in this unfamiliar agricultural territory — many other local growers are experimenting with tropical fruit as well, collectively demonstrating that even as the climate changes, the exceptional standard of French produce does not have to.