- Financial loss to farmers cultivating bananas in Bodeli taluka
- In many villages of the taluka including Jabugam, banana is grown in large quantities
Bananas are cultivated in a large scale as horticultural crops in villages including Jabugam, Chalamli, Salpura, Navatimbarwa, Kosindra, Mankani, Chachak, Modasar of Bodelita taluka, which is considered the banana king of Chotaudepur district. As a cash crop, the banana crop is ready for 9 months and cutting starts in the last week of March.
Which lasts till the month of June. Traders in the market are currently selling retail bananas for Rs 50 to 60 per kg. Farmers are alleging that when banana cutting starts for the farmers in nine months like every year, the traders leave the farmers alone and put the price at the bottom and buy bananas from the farmers at a low price and sell them to the traders of the districts of other states at a high price.
Due to the low price of bananas, the farmers have been forced to pay less than the high cost of cultivation, fertilizer, medicine, tissue, water, and labor. Currently the election campaign of Bodeli APMC is going on vigorously.
Village after village is trying to woo the farmers by asking for votes, but every year no one is ready to speak or ask the farmers about the difficulties faced by the farmers for affordable prices. Till date, no plan has been made to ensure affordable prices for farmers growing horticultural crops. It has pushed the farmers to ruin as they do not get affordable prices.
Currently, the price of farmers’ plantain crop has fallen from Rs 500 to Rs 225, and it is the turn of the farmers to bear a huge financial loss. Banana crop is making farmers cry in price year after year. Farmers demand that the government should announce the support price of horticultural crops to solve the problems of farmers. Now it remains to be seen whether the efforts to double the income of the farmers are carried out by the Lokjan representative? At present, the farmers are faced with financial crisis as the price of banana crop is sitting at the bottom.
Retail buyers, farmers have suffered financial loss
At present, the price of banana has plummeted to the bottom and it is the turn of the farmers to bear the financial loss when the prices have come down due to a sudden drop in demand or for other reasons. But bananas are sold at a price of Rs 50 to 60 per kilo by wholesalers. There is a lot of difference. Ultimately there is financial loss to the retail buyer and farmers. – Ashish Desai, Farmer Leader, Jabugam
Losses due to sudden fall in banana prices by 50%
At present, banana cultivation is carried out between power planters with expensive tissue seedlings, fertilizer, water, medicine, expensive labor. The prices keep fluctuating from time to time but suddenly the price of maund bananas has dropped below fifty percent and it is the turn of the farmers to bear the financial loss. – Yogendra Singh Varnamiya, farmer