Banana bunch turns out to be a crowd-puller

A banana tree with a long bunch of hundreds of fruits is attracting people to the Panchayat Union Elementary School at Peravurani East.

Subash, a teacher of this century-old school, brought a few of the banana variety called ‘Aayiramkaachi’ from his native place Colachel in Kanniyakumari district four years ago and planted it in the school garden.

While one tree had a lengthy bunch measuring about seven feet with hundreds of bananas, another bunch of another tree also provided a visual treat to the school children and the passersby.

He has also raised greens, papaya, guava, mango, jackfruit, coconut, and sapodilla trees in the garden.

Horticulture Department officials say this type of banana is raised in Kanniyakumari district and Kerala. The fruit of this variety will taste like ‘poovan’ and it is called ‘aayiramkaachi’ because of the hundreds of fruits on one bunch.