Gold Harvest

The golden bananas from the Jhagadhia belt in Gujarat are being lapped up by countries like Bahrain and the UAE

The golden banana that people in Dubai and Bahrain dig into traces its origin to an unexpected place8212;the villages of Jhagadhia at Bharuch in south Gujarat. The fruit is not only being exported but also fast changing the economic status of the farmers in the region.

It all began when Filipino scientists derived the original golden colour of banana from varieties like William, Common Dwarf and Philippine Lakatan. This, combined with NABARD8217;s helping hand by way of forming a Farmers8217; Club and subsidy from the state government, has had the farmers reaping a golden harvest. Armed with certificates and approval from the Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Development Authority, they are exporting bananas in bulk.

8220;For the first time, farmers here have realised the importance of targeted mass production. They know that the golden banana is in demand in the Gulf, so now they think in terms of hundreds of truckloads instead of only a couple. More importantly, they have realised the need to unite and cultivate a single crop in hundreds of acres. This has empowered them to market and quote prices that are not usually refused,8221; says Rajesh Dave, assistant general manager, NABARD.

In two years, the farmers who didn8217;t think beyond growing traditional varieties like Basrai, G-9 and Robusto and selling a couple of truckloads at the nearest agriculture produce marketing committee have taken to tissue culture, which has doubled the banana yield per hectare. From crude handling and dumping, they8217;ve graduated to neat packing and processing techniques.

8220;From 20,000 hectares, the area of cultivation has grown to 55,000 hectares,8221; says J.P. Adotharia, the agriculture extension officer at Jhagadhia. 8220;What8217;s significant is the boost in yield per hectare. To a farmer it translates into 30,000 truckloads as compared to 8,000 truckloads earlier,8221; he says.

8220;Till 2004, the farmers earned Rs 2.5 lakh per hectare. Now, it has doubled, with several farmers making Rs 4.5 lakh per hectare this season,8221; says Amarsinh Parmar, a farmer and president of the Jhagadhia Banana and Vegetable Growers Mandali. The Mandali, which has 300 members, has tied up with a Navsari-based food processing firm, which buys the bananas for export. 8220;Our aim is to increase the exports to Europe. One container has been sent to Europe as a sample and we are waiting for the feedback,8221; says Parmar.

8220;Several factors led to this change,8221; explains Adotharia. 8220;The introduction of tissue culture, the training given to farmers on productivity by NABARD and the state agriculture department, and the farmers8217; decision to grow a single variety of crop has altered the scene. The tissue culture has shot up the yield per tree by at least 30 kg, and this year, the state government too is providing subsidy on tissues,8221; he adds.

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8220;We formed the Jhagadhia Agri Vision Club,8221; says Dave. 8220;All banana and papaya farmers are its members. They grow collectively and market the product on their terms and conditions. This is farmer power.8221; Under the club8217;s aegis, the banana growers have bought weighing machines and have set up units for processing and packaging the bananas that meet international standards.

In fact, the success in the banana belt has attracted surveyors from Philippines, which is famous for mass production of export quality bananas. The Filipino agri scientists train the farmers in agronomy8212;the different techniques of farming and taking care of the tissues and preventing disease and fruit infection.