The Hindu Business Line : Farmers urged to grow export grade banana

There is an urgent need to organise and grow banana of exportable grade, the Director of National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Dr S. Sathiamoorthy, has said.

"If the farmers organised themselves into groups, raised quality banana and packed these in cartons just as the grape growers did in the Coimbatore belt, they can easily exploit the domestic market potential," he told Business Line.

Dr Sathiamoorthy's observation comes in the wake of a visit of a Costa Rica team to the Tiruchi-based research institute and later to select banana fields.

"Though foreign delegates do visit the research institute every now and then, this time, we noticed that the US-based Dole — the world's largest exporter of banana and other fresh fruits — was actually trying to get into packaging of banana. Dole is exploring the possibility of entering into a buyback arrangement with the banana growers in Sri Lanka. The company is all set to tap the potential in Indonesia, where labour is said to be cheap compared to any South-East Asian country. And before long, they will make inroads into India. We should in the meantime, create an awareness amongst our growers on the importance of packaging fresh fruits," he said.

Emphasising the need for tapping the market potential within before looking at exporting the produce, he suggested packing of adequate number of the fruit in cartons and marketing these in upcountry markets.

Packaging apart, the country has over 1,100 banana varieties (both exotic and indigenous) and is the world's largest producer under the small farming system. "We have certain unique varieties like the Nei Poovan. This has caught the attention of the foreign delegates in recent months," the NRCB Director said and added that Mr Ing. Agr. Frans Wielemaker, Organic Programme Manager of Fresh Fruits International Ltd, had, during his recent visit evinced keen interest in the Nei Poovan.

According to Dr Sathiamoorthy, Nei Poovan, if raised in Costa Rica, Cameroon or Honduras would work out much cheaper than the local variety. "There is therefore a need for cost-effective cultivation and in improving the quality of the fruit," he said.

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