CULTURE OF THE VANILLE

Flower hatched, buttons and young pods of Vanilla

Of the 30,000 orchid varieties, Vanilla is the only one that grows. The pods of the species Vanilla Planifolia Andrews are used after refining for their aromatic natural qualities of extreme finesse so perfectly suave, in pastry, chocolate, confectionery, cooking and perfumery. It is the most widely used aroma.

Vanilla is the sweetest and most refined spices, while having a powerful aroma. She is wonderfully married to sweet dishes and today's Grand Chefs combine her happily with salty dishes.

Manual pollution of a flower hatched from Vanilla

Liane de Vanille in our plantations in Betavilona

Native to Mexico, the vanillier is a climbing liana of up to five metres. Its light yellow flowers are hermaphroditic.

The Vanilla plant begins to produce flowers from the fourth year of planting.

Its acclimation outside Central America was most difficult, the Mexican insects indispensable for its fertilization having not been invited to participate in the journey, until a Reunion, Edmond Albius, rediscovered by chance in 1841.

" During the French colonization in Madagascar, due to the availability of land suitable for this plant, the SAVA region was chosen as the territory of implantation of the production of Vanilla on a very large scale in the Indian Ocean.

Our great-grandfather Edward RAJERA was one of the first voluntary peasants for this new agricultural adventure.
He chose virgin lands and he created the village of Betavilona "

Artificial pollination of the flowers of this liana occurs in three stages:

• the label is lowered and torn with a stylus (an orange thorn) to clear gynostema.
• rostellum is raised and placed under etamine
• a pressure of the finger is exerted to bring the pollen mass to contact with the stigma

Vanilla flowers hatch during the night and are only fertile one day. From September to January, the flowers are pollinated during morning dew.

Anicet JERA plantation manager in Betavilona

E-JSH Planter Card and Seal

Traces of the Planter's seal on green Gossets of Vanilla

The Vanilla culture Organic Bourbon en gussée conveys a particularly strong image of Madagascar:
the association of nature and tradition.

Respecting nature the recommended methods of cultivation encourage farmers to use free land that is not usually reserved for food crops. As a result, pre-cultivation burns were banned and trees, gliricidia and coffee trees were systematically replanted in favour of the establishment of guardians, the support of the Vanilla lianas.

A complementary innovation is the on-site production of plant materials for compost production that naturally feed Vanilla plants. Thus no fertilizer, no chemical weed remover is necessary for the proper development of the plant. Soil modification is exclusively biological in origin.

All these simple, rigorous and totally natural agricultural techniques contribute to the perfect protection of the environment and also contribute to the reforestation of the Malagasy wetland.

Our crops are cultivated according to traditional methods not mechanized at 300 meters altitude. It is a very isolated forested mountainous area, out of reach of urban, industrial and agricultural pollution.

Our Vanilla lianas grow on the trunks of our coffee makers which offer them, in addition to the guardian indispensable for their development, light shade and protection against fungal attacks due to rains.

By inflorescence 8 to 10 pods are only preserved. A Vanilla liana can carry several clusters and produce 3 to 4 kilos of green pods.

Within two months of the fertilization, small pods that have been badly introduced or damaged by insects are removed to promote the most beautiful ones.

So each of our plants produces only 100 to 120 pods of 12 to 20 centimetres on average, containing thousands of very small odoriferous seeds containing Vanillin.

Traditionally we mark our green Vanilla pods on foot with our Planter seal: E-JSH for ensure the origin of the product and thus allow its traceability. These are the apparent clear spots on some refined pods.

The volume of production is very irregular from year to year, as this much appreciated spice is sensitive to climatic variations and weather such as cyclones unfortunately frequent in this region of the Indian Ocean.

All plantations managed by the RANJA family have been certified for three years AB - Organic Agriculture par

THE RECOLENT

Ground transport with man's back of the green pods of Vanilla + Pirogue transport on the Ankavana river

Sorting green pods of freshly harvested Vanillas before scalding

Harvesting after nine to eleven months of maturation of Vanilla pods on the liana. The whole fruit is bright green with a light yellow head. Very fine striations appear and the two lines of dehiscence are increasing. It is at this precise stage that we are collecting. By operating sooner or later, we get defective fruit.

Mature green pods are immediately transported first on the back of man through the mountain and then by canoe on the Ankavana River, the only link with the coast, to our refining station located in Manambato - Antalaha on the edge of the Indian Ocean. The trade winds blow over this region throughout the year, creating a mild climate that is very favourable to the treatment of the Vanilla. The average temperature is 26 °C.

A First Sort allows the long pods to be separated from short and split for different treatments according to their respective maturity.

" Companies like ours, 100% Family, can only exist by offering extreme quality pods and rigorously selected.

From now on the Malagasy government, associated with the professionals of the Vanille sector, decides for each region the authorized date of beginning of harvest in order to guarantee the maturity of the pods and also the unique quality of the Vanillas LAVANY. "

All facilities managed by the RANJA family in Madagascar and by Vanilla LAVANY in France have been certified for three years AB - Organic farming by

FOLLOW-UP ON PART 2 - FROM AFFINAGE TO DISTRIBUTION