Trust Punjab to keep coming up with surprises, of all hues.
Punjab consumes about Rs 600 crores of bananas each year and most of them come from Gujarat and Maharashtra. But all that is set to change. The state is starting to go bananas in big way.
A banana trial on a 10-acre plot by Mewa Singh in Ludhiana gave him a net profit of Rs 1,50,000 per acre. Compare this to the Rs 30,000 that wheat and rice yield and you will understand the mad rush on now to grow the king-size G9 banana.
Around 1,96,000 tissue culture plants were sold in the August-September season. Land under the crop is set to touch 500 acres. Big companies like Godrej, FieldFresh and Bharti Walmart have also got interested as the Punjab banana tastes better. Any surprise?
Crossing the desert
2 weeks ago
3 comments:
Is it because of Punjab soil or Punjabi aggressiveness?Either case,considering the return per acre of land cultivated,it makes no sense in reaching out to wheat crop.
Let us wait for further price rise of wheat.
When in a land as fertile as Punjab, after so many years of understanding the soil, the native suddenly takes to a new crop, one is a bit flummoxed. The advent of Godrej,Walmart et al makes it even more so.
With its easy spoilability, why do I think that GM-bananas are just waiting to happen ? And this is just a trailer ? And money blinds folks to certain seed definitions ?
BK Chowla, perhaps a combination of both. But if the cultivation of bananas increases too much, prices and profit margins will tumble.
Ugich Konitari, I think initially it was an individual effort in a 10 acre plot that turned out unexpected results, prompting others to take it up. The companies have spotted an opportunity now. But, you are right, GM bananas may not be far away. Money does blind.
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