Gale destroys banana crop in Theni villages

More than 85% of the trees in many fields are uprooted

CUMBUM

A gale destroyed banana crop on a vast stretch of land covering several villages between Chinnamanur and Cumbum valley on Wednesday.

Thousands of trees in many farms at Vellaiammalpuram, Erasakkanaickanur, Kanniservaipatti, Kanniyampatti, Chinnaovalapuram and Cumbum were completely destroyed. More than 85% of the trees in each field were uprooted in several villages.

With prevalence of stable price for banana, good market support, and availability of production and post-harvest technology, thousands of farmers have shifted to banana from other crops. Growing demand for hybrid variety banana in Kerala, Bangalore and Chennai has motivated thousands of farmers to increase banana cultivation area.

But the gale uprooted a large number of banana trees, damaged flower stalks and fruits at harvesting stage. The trees had already started producing fruits.

“I had planned to harvest fruits in a day or two, but the gale destroyed the trees,” said T. Ponraj of Vellaimmalpuram, who raised 3,500 trees on 4.5 acres. All the trees were eight or nine months old.

Mr. Ponraj had invested ₹3 lakh so far to raise ‘nendran’ variety of banana. Saplings were procured from Pollachi and transported to the village. Nendran banana would fetch better price in the market. He was hopeful of getting a decent income from the harvest this year. But the gale dashed all his hopes, he said.

The gale had damaged the standing crop on more than 50 acres in Chinnamanur and Cumbum blocks. Arrangements were made to harvest the fruits and information was passed on to traders and sales agents to market these fruits, said Jaffar Sait in Cumbum.

“We had struggled to raise the crop with limited availability of water in private sources. Several farms adopted drip irrigation to manage the water needs of the standing crop. Farmers had invested at least ₹110 per tree to procure saplings. The loss due to the gale was unbearable. Quick disbursal of suitable compensation would help us overcome the loss,” said K. Perumal of Erasakkanaickanur.

The affected farmers urged the district administration to take immediate steps for assessing the loss and give adequate compensation to them. Revenue officials assured them that they would inspect the affected areas to assess the damage. After spot assessment, they would submit the report for sanctioning relief amount, the officials said.