Parliament Question: Banana Production in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1708 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10TH FEBRUARY, 2026 BANANA PRODUCTION IN TAMIL NADU

1708. SHRI MANI A:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण मं(cid:287)ी

be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the current status of banana production in Tamil Nadu particularly in major producing districts such as Dharmapuri and the trends in area, yield and output during the last three years;

(b) the details of the Central schemes and interventions including improved planting material distribution, disease-resistant varieties and integrated pest management support, extended to address these issues in the State;

(c) the amount of funds allocated, released and utilised for banana value chain support, cold storage and market linkage infrastructure in Tamil Nadu during the last three years; and

(d) the corrective steps being taken to stabilise prices, enhance productivity, expand processing and export opportunities and provide direct relief or insurance support to affected banana growers in Dharmapuri and other vulnerable districts? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एव ं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a): The production of Banana in Tamil Nadu as per the Third Advance Estimates of 2024- 25 for area and production of horticulture crops stands at 49.02 lakh tonnes. The area and production of banana in Tamil Nadu State as well as in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu has increased from 2022-23 to 2024-25.

The area, yield/productivity and output (production) of banana in Tamil Nadu and its major producing districts along with Dharmapuri district over the last three years 2022-23 to 2024-25, are given below:Area, Production and Yield /Productivity of Banana Crop in Tamil Nadu State and its Major Producing Districts along with Dharmapuri District Area (A) in Hectare (Ha); Production (P) in Metric Tonnes (MT); Productivity (Y) in MT/Ha District 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 name A P Y A P Y A P Y Erode 20075 737133 36.7 22053 954669 43.3 22140 774892 35.0 Thoothukudi 8648 370982 42.9 9227 469945 50.9 8777 447605 51.0 Theni 6732 463093 68.8 6921 317691 45.9 6698 435396 65.0 Coimbatore 9123 370907 40.7 9784 316904 32.4 9397 406880 43.3 Trichy 5991 219595 36.7 5919 290782 49.1 5769 282693 49.0 Thirunelveli 6326 182172 28.8 5064 209782 41.4 5887 241380 41.0 Dharmapuri 1165 46479 39.9 1392 53239 38.3 1726 65588 38.0 Tamil Nadu 109366 4522616 41.4 113861 4719951 41.5 114715* 4901653* 42.7* State

Source: Horticulture Statistics Unit, D/o Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, D/o Horticulture & Plantation Crops of Tamil Nadu State;

Note: ‘*’: Area, production and yield/productivity of Tamil Nadu State for Banana crop is as per Third Advance Estimates of 2024-25 of horticulture crops.

(b) to (d): Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is being implemented for holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits (including banana), vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic & medicinal plants, coconut, cashew and cocoa. All States and UTs are covered under MIDH scheme.

Under MIDH, assistance is provided for area expansion of Banana (both sucker and tissue culture) without integration @ 40% of the maximum permissible cost for meeting the expenditure on planting material and cost of INM/IPM.

Under MIDH, support is also provided for creation of post-harvest management

(PHM) and Marketing infrastructure, which includes pack houses, cold rooms, pre-cooling units, controlled-atmosphere (CA) storages, ripening chambers, reefer transport, rural markets, retail markets, vending cart, retail reefer van etc. These facilities are available to all horticulture crops, including bananas.

The details of funds allocated, released and utilized to Government of Tamil Nadu under MIDH during the last three years for implementation of various interventions including banana value chain support, cold storage and market linkage infrastructure is as under:

(Rs. In Crore) Year Allocation (GoI Share) Release (GoI Share) Utilized (GoI Share) 2022-23 102.50 102.40 103.73 2023-24 120.00 120.00 101.92 2024-25 80.00 80.00 58.41

Note: Fund utilized reported includes unspent balance of previous years.For promotion of Banana cultivation in Tamil Nadu, back ended subsidy is also

provided for Banana suckers under Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

(PMRKVY). Under the said scheme, during the year, 2024-25 an area of 115 hectares was covered with the financial allocation of Rs. 30.19 lakhs at the rate of Rs. 26,250 per hectare and in the current year 370 hectares covered with an expenditure of Rs. 97.68 lakhs at the rate of Rs. 26,400 per hectare under this scheme.

Apart from the above, the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Tiruchirappalli has transferred improved production technologies to enhance the production and productivity of quality bananas through supply of quality planting materials (Certified Tissue Culture plants) to SC/ST under SC-SP and TSP Schemes, high density planting

(HDP) techniques, drip and fertigation techniques, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) practices including application of organic manures and micronutrients (Banana Shakti-a banana micro-nutrient mixture developed by ICAR-NRCB or Banana Special, a technology of ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR), Bengaluru), bunch spraying and bunch covering technologies, Integrated Pests and Diseases Management (IPDM) through supply of bio-formulations developed by the ICAR-NRCB, pre and post harvest handling techniques to minimize the post harvest losses etc., through Central Sector Schemes quality (disease-free) TCP of Ney Poovan variety is distributed to the beneficiaries to enhance the area. Improved hi-tech production technologies are being adopted to enhance the production involving drip/fertigation, Micro-nutrient (Banana Shakti of ICAR-NRCB) spray, IPM/IDM strategies.

The prices of horticulture commodities including banana are influenced by factors of demand and supply, perishability, timely marketability etc. Government implements Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), a component under PM-AASHA, for procurement of agricultural and horticultural commodities including banana, which are perishable in nature and are not covered under the Price Support Scheme (PSS). The objective of the intervention is to protect the growers of these commodities from making distress sale in the event of a bumper crop during the peak arrival period when the prices tend to fall below economic levels and the cost of production. The Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) of MIS provides for making Price Deficiency Payment for horticulture crops whenever the market prices falls below the Market Intervention Price, where the State Government does not have to do any physical procurement.

M/o Food Processing Industries implements Central Sector Umbrella Scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), since 2016-17, Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI), since 2021-22 and Centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, since 2020-21.The objective of these schematic interventions is to increase the level of processing and preservation of agri-produce including that of fruits and vegetables thereby reducing the wastage/rotting of the fruits and vegetables.

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), introduced in the country from 2016-17, is voluntary for the States as well as farmers. The scheme provides for comprehensive risk insurance against crop damage due to non-preventable natural risksfrom pre-sowing to post-harvest for the crops/areas notified by the concerned State Government. In Tamil Nadu, banana has been notified under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for both Kharif and Rabi seasons from 2016 Rabi season onwards.

The export of bananas from India, particularly from Tamil Nadu, faces issues and challenges such as smaller size of Indian Banana and long transit time due to geographic distance to key developed markets makes it difficult to maintain quality. These issues and challenges are being resolved through development of sea protocols for Bananas, sensitization of stakeholders to promote production of globally accepted Cavendish variety of Bananas, training and capacity building of farmers in quality requirements and adoption of good agricultural practices.

*****