Chitwan. Thakur Sapkota, a farmer from Jirouna, Ratnanagar Municipality-12, who has been involved in commercial banana farming for the past 15 years, has diversified bananas into wine and brandy. He successfully tested it.

In the past one year, he has started a study and experimental research for the production of banana by-products with the objective of linking the production-oriented agriculture system to the industry.

Bhatt, who has been commercially engaged in banana farming in around 12 bighas of land through the A&B banana farm, said he has started the trial of producing alcoholic beverages with the intention of using the banana as raw material, which gets rotten and wasted on the plant due to wind, market constraints and other technical reasons.

According to him, the research conducted with the support of Agriculture Development Office, Bharatpur, with technical equipment and encouragement, has made banana wine production completely successful while research related to brandy production has reached to a successful phase.

According to him, about 200 liters of wine can be produced by processing 500 kg of ripe bananas at a time. Similarly, about 120 to 130 liters of brandy is produced from 300 kg of banana. He said that this technology is based on the natural sugar fermentation process of fully ripe bananas.

Sapkota informed that the process has been forwarded to register this business as a micro-distillery operating at the local level and not as a big distillery. He pointed out the need of branding the banana of Chitwan through local laws and work procedure as the local levels of Gandaki Rural Municipality and Khotang have branded millet.

“We are not a big distillery, but a micro-distillery at the local level,” he said. If Gandaki Rural Municipality or Khotang is able to brand the banana of Chitwan, it will contribute significantly to the promotion of agro-tourism. It can also be an excellent landmark for domestic and foreign tourists coming to Chitwan. ”

Sapkota said that preparations were underway to expand commercial production and market from the next fiscal year, saying that around one thousand people have been given a very positive response as they have been tasting the drinks made from banana. According to him, eight to nine people are directly involved in the industry and market management along with their family members in the trial phase.

Besides, a separate outlet has been set up at Bakulhar Chowk in Tandi Bazaar of Ratnanagar to promote multi-purpose banana dishes. The outlet offers a wide range of dishes including banana ma:m, chips, pakoras, choila, banana chilli and pickles to attract local consumers and tourists.

Sapkota said, “We had to face a lot of problems due to commercialization and natural disasters while we have been doing commercial banana farming for many years.” This concept has been developed when we think about how to make good use of bananas that are wasted in the garden. ”

He said the goal is to establish Chitwan as the identity of Chitwan by diversifying bananas and strengthening the local agro economy through its commercial expansion.