KURNOOL: A farmer from Dharmavaram village in Dhone mandal has burnt his banana plantation after he failed to net his expenditure from the crop.
Mallikarjuna spent Rs 5 lakh to grow plantains in his 3 acres of agriculture land. However, he got only Rs 1,50,000 after selling the crop three times. A disappointed Mallikarjuna burnt the banana crop totally to cultivate an alternative crop.
The situation is similar to almost all banana farmers in the district as the prices crashed to Rs 2,000-Rs 5,000 per ton in the wholesale markets. Due to rains, the banana crop has been damaged. Moreover this year, the area under banana cultivation was more compared to last year. Horticulture Assistant Director B Raghunath Reddy said banana was cultivated in 7,000 acres of land in the district compared to 5,500 acres in the previous year. Generally, harvesting is done three to four times.
The first and second bring maximum prices to the farmers. Now, banana prices touched Rs 2 to Rs 5 per kg in the wholesale markets. Another farmer Murali Krishna, a native of Tammadapalli, demanded that the government provide minimum support price Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 per ton based on quality to their produce and save them from financial crisis.