Members of Theni District Banana Growers and Traders Association have appealed to the State government to immediately earmark funds and construct cold storage so that they could save the produce from dumping in bins due to various factors, especially in such times of lockdown due to the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters, association president R. Narayanasamy and secretary A.P. Karuppiah said here on Tuesday that with lockdown in force, the standing plantain crops could not be harvested on time. Due to logistics issues, the workers could not come to the fields.
As a result, close to ₹ 5 crore worth plantain crops in Sippalakottai and surrounding areas in Uthamapalayam taluk had gone waste. The small and marginal farmers in the belt were hoping to make some earnings at least this season, as they faced a similar situation last year too due to Covid-19, they recalled.
While on the one hand, the government encouraged the farmers to set up drip irrigation and gave subsidies, with an eye on saving water for irrigation, on the other hand, the government should also come to the rescue, when the farmers look at it for help.
Over the period, the banana growers in the belt had installed drip irrigation on at least 30,000 acres. Considering the investment, if the growers could not get back the money, there was no use in doing agriculture, they said and urged the State government to build cold storage wherein the banana growers could keep the produce for at least 15 days and sell in the markets.
When the Agriculture and Horticulture department officials had introduced machines replacing men, they should also disseminate the techniques to the banana growers and help save their crops.
The district has been exporting bananas to many countries and looked for government support and expected the officials to act swiftly in constructing state-of-the-art cold storage, they said.
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