Market Survey

B
uddhist texts of 600 BC
for the first time in his- By: Dr I. Satya Sundaram
tory mention banana
as a highly nutritive
food. Their chroni-
cles describe a beverage derived

why are bananas

from banana which the monks were
allowed to drink. Travelagues of
327 BC mention that the Alexan-
der the Great discovered the taste
of banana in the valleys of India.
In the year 200 AD, China had an
a good export crop?
organised banana plantation. Is-
lamic conquerers brought banana to Banana, an important crop for subsistence farmers,
Palestine in 650 AD. The Arab mer-
chants succeeded in spreading it all ensures year-round security for food or income.
over Africa. In 1502 AD, colonists
started the first banana planta-
tion in the carribean and in Central
America.
Thus, humans have used ba-
nana as a staple food for thousands
of years. Also, it is interwoven with
national heritage and culture. It is
one of the oldest fruits known to
mankind.
Banana is one of the world’s most
important food crops. In India, ba-
nana crop accounts for 2.8 per cent
of agricultural GDP. It is an impor-
tant crop for subsistence farmers,
and ensures year-round security for
food or income. Banana is basically a
hot-climate plant.
Edible bananas are of two
types—cooking bananas, known as
plantations which can be considered
starchy vegetables, and the fruit ba-
nanas.

Health benefits
Being a rich source of potas-
sium, banana is recommended for
patients suffering from high blood
pressure. It is being used to prepare
squashes and juices. Despite 75 per
cent water content, banana has not
been used for long to prepare juice
because when compressed, it simply
turns to pulp. In 2004, scientists at
the Bhabha Atomic Research Cen-
tre patented a technique for ex-
tracting juice by treating banana Banana is a good source of vita- and low in proteins. Fruits are good
pulp in a reaction vessel for four to mins C and B6. It has a high content for the treatment of gastric ulcer, di-
six hours. of carbohydrates/fibre, but is fat-free arrhoea, cancer and heart diseases.

Table I
One Medium-Size Banana
Contains Approximately
Particulars Units
Protein 1 gm
Carbohydrates 40 to 50 gms
Fats 1 gm
Dietary fibre 3 gms
Water 74 per cent
Magnesium 43 mg
Potassium 467 mg
Phosphorous 27 mg
Calcium 7 mg
Selenium 1.3 mg
Iron 4 mg
Manganese, Zinc, Copper Traces
Vitamin A 95 IU
Vitamin C 11 mg
Niacin 0.6 mg
Folate 22.5 mcg
(important during pregnancy) (Rs lakh)
Vitamin B6 0.7 mcg
Pantothenic Acid 0.31 mg
Vitamin E 0.67 mg
The high content of carbohydrates
makes banana a very good source of
energy. Also, banana products and
byproducts find many uses and ap-
plications.
Recent trends
World production of bananas
is around 70 million tonnes, with
plantation of 30 million tonnes.
Nearly half the world production
of banana comes from Asia. World-
wide, 4.5 million ha are devoted to
banana cultivation. Approximately
98 per cent of world production
is grown in developing countries.
More than 73 per cent of total ba-
nana production is contributed by
ten major banana-producing coun-
tries. India, Ecuador, Brazil and
China alone produce half of total
banana output. India’s share is
around 24 per cent. Global banana
trade is currently estimated at
Market Survey
Table II Tamil Nadu ranks first,
while in terms of production
Banana: Area, Production and Maharashtra tops the list.
Yield in India
Year Area Production Yield
(’000 ha) (’000 tonnes) (kg/ha) Banana exports
Developed countries are
1994-95 444.4 13,168 29,630
the destination for export
1995-96 433.0 13,095 30,240
of bananas. Around one-
1996-97 424.6 12,439 29,300 fifth of globally produced
1997-98 449.1 13,339 29,700 bananas are exported from
1998-99 464.3 15,072 32,460 the developing countries
1999-2000 490.7 16,813 34,260 to the developed countries.
Globally, banana exports in
2000-01 458.5 12,898 28,131
2006 were around 18 million
2001-02 432.4 12,519 28,953
tonnes.
2002-03 390.5 11,388 29,163 Latin America and Car-
2003-04 404.2 11,710 28,972 ibbean account for bulk of
2004-05 423.6 12,104 28,575 exports. Philippines is the
only Asian country listed
among top exporters of ba-
Table III nana in the world.
Major Destinations of Though India is the largest pro-
Banana Exports from India ducer of bananas in the world with
a whopping 23 per cent share, the
country’s international banana ex-
Country 2003-04 2004-05
ports are negligible. Of course, the
Dubai 405 507 shipping companies are offering
Nepal 177 205 service in the form of refrigerated
Saudi Arabia 139 148 containers for banana exporters. The
Qatar 55 93 specialised containers would enable
farmers to transport the produce
Kuwait 61 85
from farms to international destina-
Bahrain 80 83 tions, while increasing the shelf-life
Oman 57 47 of bananas up to three weeks. Reefer
Maldives 25 22 containers provide a cost-effective
Germany 0.02 11 logistics solution for fruits and other
perishables.
$4.7 billion.
India is the biggest producer of
Measures needed
bananas with 17 million tonnes or Banana cultivation is facing
17 per cent of global production, fol- problems like non-availability of
lowed by Uganda with 14 million standardised, good-quality planting
tonnes. But, the cost of production material and quality certification of
in India is three times that of big glo- plant material. Though banana is
bal exporters. Banana cultivation is a highly perishable crop, currently
considered quite profitable, fetching no insurance facility is available for
net returns of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 farmers. Air tariffs for banana are
per acre. also very high.
The major banana growing states There is an urgent need for
are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gu- standardisation, certification and
jarat, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Bi- rapid multiplication for yielding
har, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, good-quality material through tis-
Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. In sue culture. Through tissue culture,
terms of area under cultivation it would be possible to multiply a
 Market Survey
Banana chips
single clone into a thousand, which
effectively means possibility of fur-
ther multiplication.
Tissue-culture banana cultiva-
tion is gaining popularity in states
like Tamil Nadu. With an initial
investment of Rs 80,000-85,000 per
acre, the farmers could get a yield
of 38-40 tonnes per acre, which
amounts to Rs 150,000 to Rs 160,000
per acre as gross income, and a net
income of Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000
per acre annually. Farmers are ad-
vised to go in for two ratoons which
give them a net income of about Rs
1 lakh each per acre. Thus, in about
27 to 30 months, with intensive cul-
tivation, farmers can earn a net in-
come of Rs 2.25 to Rs 2.40 lakh per
acre.
Tissue-culture companies in the
South have sought financial assist-
ance from state governments for
banana growers. Banana growers
are generally small farmers. The
companies have also requested for
the inclusion of banana cultivation
in rural development schemes. The
growers are keen to purchase tis-
sue-culture banana samplings. With
government assistance, tissue-cul-
ture companies can achieve econo-
mies of scale and this can bring
down the cost of planting materials.
The insurance facility for farmers is
also important.
There are centres for research
in banana in Andhra Pradesh, As-
sam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka,
Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu
and West Bengal. The National Re-
search Centre for Banana (NRCB)
at Thayanur near Tiruchi has a
dozen scientists working on banana
in a 38-ha farm. Work is in progress
on transgenic varieties and tissue
culture that have been yielding
positive results. The NRCB is also
collecting germ plasm of Indian va-
rieties. There are around 1200 ac-
cretions.
Experiments have shown that
drip fertigation (fertilisers plus
water) would boost yield in banana
cultivation. Under this method, all
the crops attain uniform height and
fruits and vegetables attain equal
weight when grown under fertiga-
tion system. Also, as much as 50
per cent of water can be saved.
Fertigation is done once every five
days.
Rural women can produce natu-
ral fibres from wastes like banana
hump. Also, production of fancy, tex-
tured banana yarn is possible from
banana trunk—a waste material
which is otherwise discarded after
harvest of the fruit clumps. Some
household items can be easily pro-
duced from fibre extracted from ba-
nana trunks.
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