Farmers rue low market rates, unable to harvest banana crop

The horticulture crop banana has been widely cultivated across the Cauvery delta districts, especially in Karur district, which contributes to major share of the requirement, with cultivation in around 20,000 acres, while in other districts all together it is cultivated in 20,000 acres.

The farmers of this region mainly cultivate Poovan, Sevvalai, Karpuravalliu and Nenthiran varieties, which used to bring them a good return. Fortunately, the yield was remarkably good this year due to the on-time water availability. However, the sale had dipped due to the excess yield.

“The Poovan, which used to sell at Rs 300 to Rs 400 per bunch, has slipped to just Rs 30. Usually, the cutting charge of each bunch would be Rs 20 and we have to calculate the transport charges and thus, the wise decision would be to leave the crop as it is without harvesting,” said, Puliyur A Nagarajan, Tamil Nadu Horticulture Farmers Association president and state president of the TMC (Farmers Wing).

Nagarajan further said that the similar condition prevailed last year as the Nenthiran variety, which used to be sold to Kerala, had declined from Rs 400to Rs 40.

“This year, the farmers from Andhra Pradesh, which is one of the main banana markets for Tamil Nadu, have commenced cultivating the crops and so the expert to the state was stopped and this is also one of the reasons for the decline of the price,” Nagarajan said. Similarly, the Sevvalai, which used to sell for Rs 10 per piece, has been sold at only Rs 3 to Rs 5 in Tiruchy.

Meanwhile, he appealed to the state government to fix a minimum support price for the crop and procure it for the use of noon-meal scheme as itis healthier.