The price of ‘Nendran’ banana usually witnesses an increasing trend during Onam season. Faced with a low production in the traditionally cultivated areas in the district, the price has now reached Rs.70 a kg in the retail market.
Nendran is in high demand for making banana chips during Onam. The farmers have suffered losses for the past three seasons owing to low prices and crop loss in lush winds and rains. Banana is cultivated in low-lying areas where water is available.
The retail price had fallen to Rs.14 a kg in the retail market at one point of time. Farmers in the banana cultivating areas of Adimaly, Nedumkandam, and Erattayar have either left the land fallow or shifted to other crops. According to Thomas George, a farmer at Valiyakandam in Kattappana, high labour cost is one of the reasons for suffering the loss when the prices fall. Valiyakandam was once the largest paddy field in Kattappana which later turned to tapioca, banana and other crops.
The increased production of Nendran in Tamil Nadu, where the cost of production is less, is one of the reasons that led to the prices reaching the bottom level, he said.
Neighbourhood groups of the Kudumbasree Mission, which cultivated banana on leased land, have withdrawn from it leading to a poor arrival of the produce in the main market. The Nendran from Mettupalayam and Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu arrives in the main markets of central Travancore in addition to those from Wayanad and Idukki.
This time, the arrival of banana from Tamil Nadu too is poor, according to market sources at Kattappana. The price of Njalipoovan variety has reached Rs.70 a kg. The price of Palayamkodan, which is of poor demand, has increased in accordance with the general price rise of banana, sources said.
