Abstract

Importance of Bananas in the Export trade of India: Of all fruits in India, banana requires the most urgent attention as a matter of highest priority for initiating developmental schemes with the special objective of export to earn the much needed foreign exchange for the country. First and foremost, there is hardly any country in the world in which banana is not a popular fruit generally among the people. Secondly, with no other fruit is there a possibility of such full control over planning for production in relation to export demands as in banana. While most fruits are seasonal, in the case of banana, production can be obtained in almost any part of the year from some State or other growing bananas in the country. Also, in certain large areas of the Indian peninsula, planting of bananas can be so staggered all through the year that shipments would be possible during every month of the year from those areas. No other fruit produces such heavy tonnage per acre as banana does. In package programme areas of the Madras State, by proper use of fertilisers, irrigation and plant protection practices, 20 tonnes of bananas per acre have been obtained on the average. It is almost impossible to obtain such bulk production per unit area in any other fruit within such short period as within one year of planting.

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