Banana Prices to Remain Firm

Banana (Musa sp.) has its origin in tropical region of South East Asia. The fruits are considered as “Gold Mine” of nutrients comprising of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and rich source of fiber. Since the crop management requires low application of plant protection chemicals, banana is grouped under “Green Food”.

Bananas are the fifth largest agricultural commodity in the world trade after cereals, sugar, coffee and cocoa. India, Ecuador, Brazil and China alone produce half of total bananas of the world. The advantage of this fruit is its availability round the year. The World area & production for banana are 57.26 mHA & 64.67 MT respectively.

In India, Banana ranks next only to mango in area and production. According to FAO estimates, India occupies the highest area under banana in the world. India ranks first in banana production, contributing about 32.6% in world pool of banana production with 11% of global banana area. The important banana growing states in India are: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar and Gujarat. India exports small quantities of bananas to Bahrain, Germany, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and USA. 

Karnataka is one of the progressive states of India with great potential for development of fruit crops. The state is blessed with ten agro-climatic regions suitable for growing variety of fruits all round the year. The total area under fruit crops has increased from 383.9 ‘000HA in 1991-92 to 776.0 ‘000HA in 2012-13. The production of fruit crops has also gone up from 7790.0 ‘000T during 1991- 92 to 26509.1 ‘000T in 2012-13. The major districts growing fruit crops in the state are Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Belgaum, Bidar, Bangalore, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Dharwad, Mysore, Tumkur, Bagalkot and Chitradurga. Karnataka is firth largest banana producing State, producing about 7.66% of total production of banana in the country. 

Binny Mill is the Major market for banana in Karnataka. The sowing period of banana in Karnataka starts from the mid of May upto September. The first crop is harvested after 11-13 months of planting. Therefore, for the benefit of farmers, the NCAP Network project on Market Intelligence functioning in the Department of Agricultural Marketing, Co-operation and Business Management, UAS Bangalore collected the weekly modal prices of banana that prevailed in Binny Mill market during the last ten years and an econometric analysis was carried out to predict the prices of banana for the next three months. Also an opinion survey of banana traders was conducted. 

ELAKKI BANANA

Based on the analysis and Market survey, it is forecasted that elakki banana would fetch a modal price of around Rs. 24-26/ kg for next four months, But based on traders survey it is expected that the prices would go upto Rs. 45-50/kg due to the upcoming festivals. This forecast prevails for current market sentiments & monsoon and could vary with changes in the market situation and rainfall. Farmers are advised to take suitable sowing decisions.

Due to large scale damage of Elakki Banana in Tamil Nadu and surrounding areas, the prices are likely to be firm in Binny Mill market. However, the local supply from Karnataka will commence from August-September when the prices are expected to ease little bit

ROBUSTA

Based on the analysis and Market survey, it is forecasted that Robusta would fetch a modal price of around Rs. 11-13 per kg for next four months. This forecast prevails for current market sentiments & monsoon and could vary with changes in the market situation and rainfall. Farmers are advised to take suitable sowing decisions.

RESEARCH TEAM

Dr. C. P. Gracy, Mangala V Reddy, Nagashree.N, Sakamma S

Department of Agricultural Marketing, Co-operation and Business Management

    UAS, GKVK, Bangalore-65