Post-floods TN banana prices to remain under pressure

Come winter, the consumption of banana, once touted as the poor man's fruit, drops. And more so this season, particularly after the floods in Chennai and Cuddalore and the continuous rains in some of the major banana consuming districts in the State.

Taking note of the drop in demand, the Back Office of Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre (AMI &BPC) operating in the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development Studies (CARDS), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, analysed the price movement of popular varieties such as Poovan, Karpooravalli and Nendran, conducted trader surveys and concluded that the price of banana will not recover in the short run.

Summing up the market, university sources preferred to advise farmers to take note of this before harvesting the produce.

In India, banana ranks first in production and third in area among fruit crops.

The major banana growing states are Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Assam.

In Tamil Nadu, the major banana growing districts are Thoothukudi, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Karur, Erode and Kanniyakumari.

Tiruchi has been a major centre for the despatch of banana to various parts of the State such as Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Perambalur and Ariyalur.

The result of the analysis and traders survey indicated that during February–March 2016, the expected average farm gate price for both Poovan and Karpooravalli variety would range between Rs 7 and 9 a kg and between Rs 21 and Rs 24 a kg for the Nendran banana.

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