by M P Saravanan, News Today Net
Right from the days of former Chief Minister-writer C N Annadurai, sevvazhai (red bananas) have been out of reach for the common public. Refer his story by the same name Sevvazhai, where a farm coolie raises a red banana plant in his house and how it goes out of reach of his children in the end, they have been part of an elitist menu.
But not any more. Now, red bananas, which were mostly priced at Rs 10-12 (USD 0.15 – 0.18) per fruit, are selling for Rs 5-6 (USD 0.07 – 0.09) in the city. With the price going down, the sweet red bananas get immediately sold out in most neighbourhood shops.
“The unprecedented supply of red bananas from all over Tamilnadu has led to the fall in price,” says K Balaji, proprietor of Sri Varadharajan Suppliers, which deals with bananas in Koyambedu. “On an average, 50-60 lorries supply normal variety of bananas, including red bananas, to Koyambedu. But, over the past few weeks, every lorry has been coming in with around 30 per cent red bananas, which is more than the average,” he said.
Echoing his view, Tamilnadu Flower and Vegetable and Fruit Traders Welfare Association general secretary V Govindarajan says, “When supply exceeds demand, then prices begin to crash. Moreover, retailers accept to sell without a big margin. Since red banana used to sells for around Rs 10-12 (USD 0.15 – 0.18), retailers, who usually keep a margin of 20-30 per cent, now accept a lower margin of around Rs 1-2 (USD 0.01 – 0.03). This brought down the cost of red bananas to around Rs 5-6 (USD 0.07 – 0.09).”
Experts state various reasons for the good supply: red banana plantations have increased to several hundred acres in the past fews years. For the past three years, many European countries rejected bananas from south Asia, including India, Pakistan, etc.
Exporters who supplied native banana varieties such as karpooravalli, rasthali, neipoovan suffered severe losses. Banana-growers, who were growing the second most important fruit crop in India after mango, were also affected.
Explaining, Tamilnadu Banana Growers Federation treasurer V A Subramanium says, “Though red bananas take more time to yield than normal varieties, many farmers began to plant them to cover the losses. Since red bananas have medicinal value and were priced quite high, many farmers in the areas like Sathyamangalam, Ottanchathiram, Dindigul, Theni, Salem, Gobichettipalayam began large-scale plantations of banana. So, production jumped up and free flow of the banana supply to cities and towns resulted in the price crash.”
Bananas, sold by weight nowadays, are seeing unprecedented fall in price, which has made the farmers to sell as low as Rs 25 (USD 0.37) per kilo, which are later sold by retailers to around Rs 40 (USD 0.58) per kg.
But Tamilnadu Banana Growers Federation president A P Karuppiah points out another angle to the low price of red bananas. He says, “Bananas, which are priced around Rs 5-6 (USD 0.07 – 0.09), are of low-quality. The quality of red bananas is determined by colour and weight: a good red banana must weigh around 250-300 gm (0.25 – 0.3 kg) and must be red in colour. Even black and crimson red are of low quality.”
BANANA AND INDIA
In India, banana ranks first in production and third in area among fruit crops. Banana accounts for 13 per cent of the total area and 33 per cent of the production of fruits. A 2010 data shows that production is highest in Maharashtra followed by Tamil Nadu. Within India, Maharashtra has the highest productivity of 65.70 metric tonnes (65700 kg) per hectare, against the national average of 30.5 tonnes (30500 kg) per hectare. The other major banana producing states are Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.
RED BANANA’S HEALTH VALUE
Red bananas make a low-calorie addition to the diet. One medium red banana contains just 110 calories; 4 gm (0.004 kg) of fibre, meeting 16 per cent of your daily value for fibre. Women need about 25 gm (0.025 kg) of fibre a day, and men need 38 gm (0.038 kg) a day. This helps keep the feeling full longer and helps with weight control. In addition, including more fibre-rich foods in the diet like red banana can lower risk of heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
Source: News Today Net