MYAGDI: Banana cultivation has spread throughout the village of Khabara in Beni Municipality-2, home to over 150 households.
However, farmers are increasingly concerned as their bananas struggle to find a market.
With the arrival of winter, banana sales have dropped significantly, and many bananas are ripening on the plants only to be consumed by birds, said Buddhabir Pariyar, a farmer from Khabara.
“Earlier, we used to sell bananas up to 20 times a week,” he explained, “but today, we’re lucky if we sell them five times a week.”
Commercial banana farming has become a primary source of livelihood in Khabara.
According to the local Radhakrishna Agricultural Cooperative Society, bananas worth over Rs 20 million are sold annually in the area.
Hira Kunwar, another farmer from Khabara, expressed disappointment at the decrease in banana sales and income.
Farmers who had shifted to banana cultivation as an alternative to rice, millet, and corn are now struggling due to the lack of a market and low prices for their produce.
The price of bananas, which was once Rs 180 per 12-basket (dozen), has now fallen to Rs 100. Shree Krishna Subedi, a fruit trader in Beni, noted that banana consumption and sales have slowed with the onset of cold weather.
“Only two to three dozen bananas, which used to be consumed daily during the summer, are being sold now,” he said.
As local production has peaked, there has been a slight increase in banana imports from India and the Terai in Beni over the past five years.
Sobit Sharma, chairman of the Radhakrishna Agricultural Cooperative Society in Khabara, highlighted the issue of overproduction, with limited markets and adverse weather conditions hindering sales.
He also mentioned that new banana-based products are being produced and stored through cooperatives, and markets are being explored in Pokhara, Baglung, and Kushma.
Through Beni Municipality’s Banana Pocket Program, more than 500 ropanis of land in Khabara have been dedicated to banana cultivation, with over sixteen thousand banana tubers planted.
Beni Municipality Deputy Mayor Jyoti Lamichhane stated that farmers in Khabara have received training and technological support to produce yarn from banana stalk fibers.
Lamichhane also shared that through the Micro Enterprise Development Program for Poverty Alleviation, coordination with the Idea Project of Milan Sanstha has enabled the production of yarn from banana stalk fibers, the creation of organic fertilizer from stalks, and plans to market these products.
Comment