Highlighting that the Tiruchi-based National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) has thus far developed 24 value-added products from banana, scientists from the institute, who are participating in the National Banana Festival at the Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC&RI) here, said that banana growers could increase their income manifold if they focussed on value-added products.
P. Suresh Kumar, Senior Scientist, NRCB, said that products could be derived from every part in banana plant, including the flower, central stem, pseudo stem and banana itself, be it raw or ripe.
“For instance, we have developed banana fig, banana sauce, flower pickle, stem pickle, fibre products from pseudo stem sheaths, and beverages,” he said, adding that products like the fig and pickles had good export potential.
“Banana fig, in particular, can be an excellent nutritional supplement that can even be included in the noon meal scheme or used by defence forces in case of emergency situations when they cannot carry more food,” he added.
Pointing out that organisations like Tamil Nadu Banana Growers Federation were gradually adopting these technologies to improve productivity, Mr. Suresh Kumar, however, said that there was still a need for more awareness among the farmers.
“There are some misplaced apprehensions in adopting to technology, both among the farmers and the public. A case in point is ripening techniques using ethylene. The public and even some farmers think that its usage is harmful to health. However, there is no truth in it,” he said.
Highlighting that farmers could increase their income by tenfold by shifting to value-added products, R. Thangavelu, Principal Scientist, NCRB, said that none of these products required heavy investments and could instead be manufactured by setting up small-scale units.
He stressed that switching to value-added products would also increase productivity since wastage would be reduced drastically.
