Prices of the common man’s fruit expected to rise as standing crop falls
Destroyed banana plantations in central Gujarat. Photo: Jumana Shah Gujarat recently went from drought-like conditions to floods. However, a flawed decision by authorities caused damages of Rs 100 crore, after water from a reservoir was released and flooded banana plantations, according to farmers.
The Karjan river, an important tributary of the Narmada, starts near the Tapi river on Maharashtra’s border with Gujarat. There is a large reservoir on the river after which it flows north through the town of Rajpipla and finally into the Narmada.
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The basin of the river is largely located in the Adivasi-dominated Narmada district, carved out of neighbouring Bharuch.
Banana farmers in these two districts told this reporter that the final nail in the coffin for their crop was the sudden release of water from the Karjan reservoir due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of the river in Maharashtra.
Harvesting was still going on these areas and up to 70 per cent of the standing crop was lost.
“We lost 70 per cent of our standing crop and 100 per cent of the fresh plantations. The river rushed into several inland farms when water from the reservoir was suddenly released without warning,” Mahendrasinh Karmaria, a farmer in Bharuch, said.
Karmaria claimed each farmer was staring at a loss of Rs 3-4 lakh per acre. The size of an average farm can be anywhere between 10 and 25 acres. Karmaria’s farm is spread over 30 acres.
In south Gujarat districts — Surat, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad and the Dangs — up to 30 per cent of the standing crop was lost. In both the regions, the smaller plants were completely washed out. Scores of acres of land were submerged in up to three feet of water for several days.
Banana prices this year are at a historic high of Rs 20-22 per kg after two years of lean market demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The price used to be Rs 8-12 earlier.
“Banana is a high maintenance crop. The overall plantation this year is 30 per cent less. This is primarily because those farmers who could not shoulder the losses due to Covid-induced market shutdowns, did not plant bananas this time,” Jayesh Patel, president of the Khedut Samaaj in Gujarat, said.
Banana is also a water-intensive crop and water levels across India are declining.
“This year, around 10 per cent of the plantation was reduced due to less water availability and another 5-10 per cent due to a heatwave in February. The demand for bananas is so high these days that the market is unable to fulfill even domestic demand,” Patel said.
He added that the cost of bananas would go up in the next few months. He said, “The situation is such this year that there is already an acute shortage of bananas in north India and with this washout, it will get worse in the next few months.”
India is the largest banana-growing country in the world, accounting for 28 per cent of global production. In India, Gujarat constitutes 12 per cent of the total banana production, ranking third after Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Some 50,000 tonnes of bananas are exported, mostly to the United Arab Emirates every year.
Bhadresh Patel, an agriculture consultant and farmer talked about the high-maintenance aspect of banana plantations. He noted that each hectare of banana cultivation incurred a cost of Rs 2-2.5 lakh.
He said:
Against this, the farmer stands to earn Rs 6-8 lakh per hectare if everything goes right. If a farmer can stomach the losses, this cultivation is going to get more lucrative in the times to come. Worldwide, water levels are reducing and global banana cultivation and bananas’ survival rate is steadily declining.
It is estimated that about 5,000 farmers are engaged in banana cultivation in central and south Gujarat, between Vadodara and Vapi. However, this number is reducing.
“Though banana is a cash crop and there is a robust global market, the fruit is perishable, which calls for a well-established delivery chain. Any breakdown in this chain and we are staring at losses. Besides, the crop is delicate and water-intensive — an increasingly precious resource for farmers worldwide,” Bhadresh Patel said.
Bhadresh said mango was replacing banana as the fruit of choice in most Indian households every summer. This was primarily due to the reduction in supply and the fruit turning dearer due to climate change.
The demand of banana resumes only after mango exits the market and the festival season starts, Bhadresh added.
“However, this summer, the mango supply was much less due to climate change and hence, more expensive. So, there was demand for bananas,” he said.
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