Dang, Sept 16: The commercial banana farming has increased in the district lately. Local farmers are found attracted to banana farming quitting traditional crops as banana farming is easier in the process and there is easy access to market to sell the products. 

Prithviraj Lamichhane, Agricultural Economist at the Agriculture Knowledge Centre shared that 670 hectares of land are under commercial banana farming in the district. Out of that, bananas planted in 530 hectares have yielded 4,535 metric tonnes annually. 

According to Lamichhane, although this product meets about 60 per cent of the market’s demand at other times, it has to depend on the outside districts during the festival. 

Such commercial banana farming has been increasing in Deukhuri, Ghorahi Sub-metropolitan City along with Gadahawa rural municipality, Shanti Municipality and Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City.

Bidya Bahadur Chaudhary, a resident of Sisahnia, Rapti Rural Municipality-7, has been involved in banana farming for the past four years. 

He started commercial banana farming by renting three bighas of land and says that he is selling bananas worth Rs 13-14 lakhs annually. Farmer Choudhary, who has been getting good income from banana farming, says, “It has been giving decent income compared to other agricultural businesses.”  

Rana Prasad Subedi of the same place is also doing commercial banana farming in 6 bighas of land and says that there is no problem in selling the products.  He further shared that the bananas imported from India however had easy access in the past, but now the situation has changed. (RSS)