Going bananas in the 8th year
Question
I see bananas in Otzar Ha'aretz stores labeled sheminit, eighth-year, at the end of Tishrei. How can that be?
Answer
These bananas were harvested during the eighth year and do not have kedushat shevi'it, nor are they considered sefichin.
Expanded answer
Bananas are vegetables. The shemitah status of vegetables follows harvest time, so if a banana is picked during the eighth year, it will not have kedushat shevi'it.
Some hold that if the banana finished growing during shemitah and then is harvested during the eighth year, it still has kedushat shevi'it.
However, any banana harvested after Yom Kippur finished growing during the eighth year. Note that these bananas were planted during the sixth year, not during shemitah. Furthermore, bananas are not sefichin since they are perennial plants.
Bottom line: From Yom Kippur and on, it is possible to buy bananas even in stores without special shemitah supervision.