Ghorahi. Lately, the number of commercial banana farmers has been increasing here. According to Nawaraj Bhandari, chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, commercial banana farming was done in 730 hectares of land in the fiscal year 2081/82 BS. According to the annual report of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, 9,973 metric tonnes of bananas were produced in the district.

Banana was cultivated on 670 hectares of land in the last fiscal year, according to data with the Knowledge Centre. The area under banana cultivation has increased by 150 hectares in the last fiscal year. Although the production in the district meets around 70 percent of the demand of the market, they have to depend on other districts during the festival, said Bhandari.

“Commercial banana farming has been increasing in the district in recent period, production has increased and it has moved towards self-reliant country”, Bhandari added. According to him, not all the saplings planted will be productive, so for now we have to depend on bananas from outside.

Commercial banana farming is done in different places of Deukhuri, Rapti, Shantinagar, Gadhawa Rural Municipality, Ghorahi and Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City. Farmers and businessmen who have invested heavily in banana farming have also been found involved.

According to Bhandari, the number of banana farmers is increasing every year as there is a good potential for banana farming in the district. He said that the market for bananas is also good. There is no problem in the consumption of bananas as they are used by everyone. The office had also provided grants to the farmers for the expansion of farming.

Although the banana produced in the district in other seasons is almost enough, it is necessary to import fruits from outside the district as well as from India during the festival season. Bhagat BK, an entrepreneur, said that millions of rupees are being imported from outside the district every year as the production is not meeting the demand.

“The production in the district cannot last even three months,” said BK, a fruit entrepreneur. According to him, most of the bananas in the district are imported from India. According to him, even though bananas are brought from Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Tikapur and other districts, it does not last for twelve months.