KALPETTA: It was a double blow to farmers of Wayanad this year as they also suffered a huge loss in banana cultivation as well besides the ‘ginger tragedy’. Thanks to the peculiar climatic conditions, duration of banana crop has increased in Wayanad. While banana can be harvested within eight to 10 months in other states, in Wayanad it is further delayed by two to three months. Due to this, the majority of the farmers could not reap their harvest before or during this Onam season, when banana had a good price in the market. This coupled with the loss due to monsoon havoc made a cut into the prospects of farmers.“There was good price for banana till the month before Onam but we could not harvest during that time. After Onam, the price declined gradually. A sum of Rs 90 to Rs 100 is required to grow a banana. We should get around Rs 20 per kg for a decent profit. But we got only Rs 8 per kg this season,’’ says Raju of Mothakkara, who cultivated 2,500 bananas during the Onam season.The cost of cultivation increased considerably as fertiliser prices doubled during the period. “The cost of a sack of potash having 50 kg rose to Rs 620 from Rs 300. Similarly, the cost of 18 x 18 x 18 complex fertiliser shot up to Rs 780 from `480 during the period. Farmers faced an acute shortage of fertilisers and even had to buy from black marketeers. While some farmers managed to apply fertilisers borrowing money from lenders at a high interest, some others didn’t and this adversely affected their yield,’’ says Sasi, brother-in-law of farmer C P Sasidharan who committed suicide. “Along with ginger, Sasidharan also cultivated banana and paddy on the leased land of 1.7 acres,’’ Sasi adds.Anticipating a heavy loss in ginger farming at Chikmagalore in Karnataka, P S Varghese, another farmer from Thrikkeppatta here who ended his life a few days ago, planted 350 banana saplings in his land. “Some days before his death, the entire banana plants were destroyed by a herd of bison. That was a major blow to him,’’ says his wife Jessy.Farmers complain that they are not getting any benefit from the crop insurance scheme. “For each plant, we are paying a premium of Rs 3 and they offer an insurance coverage of Rs 60. Owing to extended cropping season, we are denied the insurance amount saying that the insurance period is only for ten months”, they say.Though farmers hail the marketing initiatives by Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam, they point out that the delay in cropping season also prevents them from utilising the opportunity by selling their produce at those agriculture markets.
Comments
0 comment