Why West Bengal Farmers Have Turned To Banana Cultivation

Traditional farming often yields lower profits. We hear about farmers complaining about low profit and low income. As a result, people start looking for alternative methods of farming. For farmers who want to move away from tradition, banana cultivation is a very good alternative as it can yield huge profits. For any farmer, banana cultivation can easily yield lakhs of rupees in profit. It does not require much time.

Many farmers in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal have started banana cultivation which has provided huge profits in recent years. Speaking on the profits of Banana cultivation, Fazr Ali, a farmer from the Cooch Behar district said, “I have received good profit from Banana Cultivation. Earlier, I used to earn my livelihood by traditional farming only. However, around five years ago I started banana cultivation. Since then I earned much more than I used to earn from traditional farming. It takes much less time and effort and the profit percentage is much higher than others. Various types of bananas can be grown but the Jahaji and Malbhog bananas are more profitable and can be grown easily.”

He further stated, “Farmers can earn between Rs 80,000 to 1 lakh per acre from cultivation of Bananas. Traditional farming of rice, wheat, maize, etc incurs higher cost prices and yields lower selling prices as a result farmers face huge losses in business. But banana cultivation incurs less cost price and higher selling price. Therefore, farmers who are struggling with profit should start cultivation of Bananas alongside other crops.”

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in banana cultivation in the district. Several agricultural experts believe that the district will witness a further increase in banana cultivation in the upcoming years as farmers have witnessed significant profits from banana cultivation in recent years. If fertilisers and pesticides are applied correctly and at the right time, the risk of crop damage can be minimised.

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