By GARRET ROBINSON
Staff Writer
Out of the entire world, about 80% of vanilla is grown and produced in Madagascar. The price for vanilla used to be $50 for 2.2 pounds of vanilla but as of 2015 the price is now between $400 to $600 for the same amount of vanilla because of the storms destroyed many of the vines and there has been an increase in global demand. Some people are even now farming vanilla instead of rice, bananas, and coffee because of the profit that they can make. Vanilla is also a very labor-intensive crop to grow because it takes three years to fruit, and each flower must be pollinated by hand. In vanilla season, the villagers patrol their fields with machetes because of how valuable it is and how much people want to steal it.