KISARAZU, Chiba >> A banana farm that had its first harvest this spring produces fruit with an edible skin.

Kisarazu Farm in Kisarazu, Chiba prefecture, was established when solar company Uni Root purchased farmland in the city. The Osaka-based company began growing the bananas in 2018.

While bananas grow mainly in the tropics, the production in Japan involves selective breeding, developed by an agricultural company in Okayama, that enables seedlings to grow in cool climates.

Unlike imported bananas that require pesticides, the domestic bananas, named Kimisarazu, are grown chemical-free. They are of the popular Gros Michel variety, which has a high sugar content.

Kisarazu Farm uses bamboo vinegar from Mariyatsu to repel insects. The vinegar is a by- product of bamboo charcoal.

The farm started its first crop in fall 2018, but greenhouses for the bananas were destroyed by typhoons the following year, right before harvest. The farm has recovered and has planted 200 banana plants growing in rebuilt greenhouses covering nearly 13,000 square feet.

About 40,000 Kimisarazu bananas were harvested this season. The farm donated 1,200 bananas to medical staff hard at work at a nearby hospital; another 1,000 fruit were given to 18 city-run elementary schools.

The farm’s president, Yuki Sakata, hopes to increase production.

“We’d like to arrange the planting times so we can harvest bananas all year round,” he said.