KOZHIKODE: With the banana prices hitting an all-time high of Rs 60 per kg this week, the banana farmers of Wayanad are a happy lot. According to the agriculture department, banana is grown in about 10,000 hectares in Wayanad. Last year, the maximum price received by the farmers was Rs 18 per kilogram and the lowest Rs 4. The jump in prices is because a large number of farmers who incurred huge losses last year either backed out from banana cultivation or reduced the area of farming, it was pointed out.
Dennis George, a farmer from Pothukolly near Sulthan Bathery, told Deccan Chronicle that he had incurred a loss of more than Rs 100 per banana plant last year. Planting around 900 bananas in an acre of land, his total loss for two acres was about Rs 2 lakh. For one banana bunch, the total cost of production for a farmer is between Rs 140 and Rs 180. “A banana bunch of average size would have a weight of 10 kilograms which fetches around '500 this year,” it was pointed out.
Dennis also said that farmers now get Rs 500 as profit per one banana bunch. “The lowest price this year so far was Rs 36. At some points of sale the price touched Rs 60 per kilogram,” he added. The traders also are a happy lot. Last year due to price crash many traders also incurred huge losses as there were few buyers for the stuff. This year the demand is high and the extent of banana farms has come down. Sabu Payikkatt, a banana trader from Arivayal near Sulthan Bathery, said that the demand would be higher in the coming days.
The present demand is due to the fall in production in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka due to lack of summer rain, he said and added that the price crash of last year had also forced many farmers to back out from banana farming. Most of the banana are bought for making chips and other value-added products for the Onam market, he said. “The raw banana export is yet to start which will be on till one week ahead of Onam,” he added.
