Banana farmers in Ernakulam district are among the first to enjoy the fruit of the newly-introduced support price system in which the government will compensate them for the gap between support and market prices.
The price of 1 kg of the ‘nendran’ variety has come down to between ₹15 and ₹20, said a senior official of the Department of Agriculture. This implies that after the new support price system came into effect on November 1, farmers selling their produce get some help from the government. The support price of the nendran variety is ₹30 a kg.
The official said that the scheme worked in a specific way—the farmer registered with the Department of Agriculture will be compensated if the price of the notified 16 items falls below the support price. When the produce is sold, the registered farmer will get the market price. But then, the gap between the support price and the market price will be remitted to the farmer’s account once the details are submitted. That is, if nendran banana is sold at ₹20 a kg, the remaining ₹10 per kg will be given to the farmer once he uploads his details on the specified website.
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The process is under way at Keerampara and Pothanikkad in Kothamangalam block. Large-scale sale of banana is witnessed in farmers’ markets in both places with large areas under nendran banana cultivation.
The official said that the government had notified support price for 16 items, including tapioca, tomato, and potato.
K.V. George, a banana farmer at Vazhakkulam, said that the support price was welcome. Given the current market situation, it will be a compensation for farmers who follow the conventional method of cultivation using fertilisers and pesticides. However, he said that organic produce should get better price, and that there was already a niche market for it.
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Mr. George said he had been growing around 400 banana plants annually on an experimental basis over the last three years. The organic cultivation method has been quite satisfactory, he added.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department official said 422 farmers had registered under the support prices scheme in Kothamangalam block.