Marketing of banana in selected districts of India
Vinod Wanjari; Ladaniya, M.S.
Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension 7: 126-133
2004
Document Number: 234394
Marketing costs, margins and important marketing channels for bananas, cv. 'Basrai' (Dwarf cavendish), were examined on the basis of data collected from growers, cooperative societies and intermediaries in selected districts of India (Jalgaon and Nagpur districts in Maharashtra, and Burhanpur district, Madhya Pradesh). Losses at farm after harvest and during marketing up to retail level were studied. Farmers sell their standing crop to pre-harvest contractors and also to cooperative societies and commission agents. The net price received by the farmer is slightly less when produce is sold through a cooperative society since the society charges a higher commission than private commission agents. The share of the producer, trader/wholesaler and retailer in the price paid by the consumer was nearly 28, 22 and 40%, respectively in two major channels in which farmers sold the produce to buyers of distant a market through cooperative societies and commission agents. Transportation cost increased with distance between production area and market and this increased the marketing cost. At the local market in Jalgaon, the retailer's share was 63.13% of the price paid by the consumer. The losses of banana fruits at farm, wholesale and retail levels were 5.38, 3.50 and 2.85%, respectively. Losses at farm included culled, very small-sized, splitted and black spotted fruit. Rotting and softening were the major causes of loss at retail level since the fruit was ripened just before the retail phase of marketing.