Growth and Marketing of Banana in Tamil Nadu

Banana is an important fruit crop cultivated in India and Tamil Nadu ranks third in production in the country and the area under the banana is also increasing over the years in the state. However, high post-harvest losses were reported in banana due to improper development of marketing channels. Hence, this paper aimed to study marketing of banana and perform stakeholder analysis. Three districts namely Tiruchirappalli, Erode and Coimbatore were selected for the study based on the areaunder banana. The results of the study revealed that the growth rate of area was the highest in Vellore - Tiruvannamalai production centre with 7.75 per cent per annum and production and productivity growth were the highest in Cuddalore-Villupuram production centre with 8.39 and 7.23 per cent per annum respectively. Three banana marketing channels were identified in the study area. Pre- harvest contractor was the popular mode of sale by banana producers. The post-harvest loss of 8.5 to 14.5 kg/tonne was reported in selected banana cultivars. No packing method of banana was followed in the entire marketing channel and one third of market intermediaries did not have storage facility for banana. Hence, the marketing channels of the banana have to be improved on handling, storage and packing to reduce the losses.