Disparity in Banana Prices: Farmers Struggle While Consumers Pay High Costs

Hetauda. On Sunday, the wholesale price of bananas at the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Committee in Kathmandu reached a maximum of 260 rupees per dozen. However, on Monday, Kalimati did not even set a price list for bananas. 

Immediately outside the Kalimati market, the price of bananas in retail fruit shops is high. While consumers are forced to pay exorbitant prices, banana farmers are compelled to sell at very low rates. 

Ghananath Mahato, Chairman of the Banana Producers Association in Chitwan, states that they receive only 4 to 5 rupees per banana. Even calculating at 5 rupees per piece, farmers only receive 60 rupees per dozen. 

‘Currently, farmers in Chitwan receive only 4 to 5 rupees per banana. Accordingly, a dozen costs 50 to 60 rupees. However, in the local Narayangadh market, consumers have to pay up to 150 rupees per dozen for the same bananas.’

 He states that there is a three-fold difference in price between farmers and consumers. He claims that wholesalers and retailers take a large margin in between. He believes the state should take an interest in adjusting such unequal prices. 

He says that although banana cultivation has increased significantly in Chitwan, problems are arising due to market prices. 

Chairman Mahato mentioned that although farmers have received slightly better prices this year compared to previous years, much remains to be done for sustainable market management and government support. 

Chairman Mahato also revealed that the main reason Nepali bananas are not finding a market is the import of Indian bananas. He recalled that during festivals like Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath, Nepali bananas were left to ripen and rot on the trees due to Indian bananas. 

Mahato complains that even though Chitwan is a super zone for bananas, the state has not inquired about the problems of the farmers. According to him, although the government has provided some subsidies on insurance and support for mechanization, it has now stopped the interest subsidy that was previously provided.

Price hike under the pretext of banana shortage is black marketing: Minister Chaudhary

 He said that there is a problem of insufficient budget for the super zone and the budget not arriving according to the set targets. He says that farmers are suffering due to not receiving insurance payments on time and policy hurdles.

Chitwan banana farmer Sundar Neupane also said that there are challenges in banana production costs and market management. 

 He has been farming green variety bananas. According to Neupane, now is the off-season for green bananas, while it is the time for the Malbhog banana season to begin. He said that his farm is producing an average of one truck of bananas daily. He says that since banana production is low in Nepal and North India, the market is more dependent on bananas imported from South India. 

He also said that although the price of bananas has increased in the market, there is a huge difference between the actual price received by farmers and the price paid by consumers. 

Unnatural increase in prices following the ban on banana imports

‘I send two trucks of bananas produced from my farm to Kathmandu daily, while the rest is consumed in the local market,’ he said, ‘We currently sell one crate of bananas for 700 rupees. This includes an additional 25 rupees for packaging costs. One crate contains 125 to 130 bananas. By that calculation, the price of one banana comes to about 5.5 rupees.’

He says the cost of banana production is about 4 rupees per piece. He said that by selling at 5.5 rupees, there is a profit of about 1.5 to 2 rupees per piece. He says that if they do not get at least 4.5 rupees, the farmers cannot even recover their investment.

Similarly, Chairman Mahato says that banana cultivation is currently being done on about 3,000 bighas of land in Chitwan. About 712 farmers are directly involved in this. He says that 70,000 metric tons of bananas are produced annually from the district. 

He said that there is an annual economic transaction of about 2.5 billion rupees from banana sales in Chitwan. He said that 500,000 additional banana saplings have been planted in the current fiscal year alone, and farmers are excited to expand the area.

Manipulation by middlemen

Consumer rights activist Premlal Maharjan says that the manipulation of middlemen and the short-sighted policies of the previous government are mainly responsible for the excessive price increase of bananas in the market.  He expressed anger that real farmers are getting low prices while consumers have to pay high prices.

Giving an example of how unnatural the price of bananas is in the market, he said that on the recent Mother's Day, consumers had to pay up to 450 rupees per dozen. He said that at the same time, the farmers producing them did not even get 50 to 60 rupees per dozen. He said that both farmers and consumers are suffering because middlemen buy cheaply from farmers and sell expensively to consumers.

To solve this problem, he has also given some suggestions to the government.  According to Maharjan, the government should set a minimum support price for bananas just like for wheat, paddy, and corn. ‘In a situation where domestic production cannot meet the demand, quality bananas should be imported to create healthy competition in the market,’ he told Ratopati, ‘Strengthening the supply system and bringing middlemen under the scope of strict action is the need of the hour.’ He emphasized that the new government should understand the problems of farmers and work in the interest of the stakeholders.