On the same day Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav announced ₹3.39 crore in relief for Burhanpur’s banana farmers, Mamleshwar Patil walked through his seven-acre farm in Shirpur village, wondering if his remaining harvest would even break even. At current market rates of ₹450–₹500 per quintal, he’s losing money with every sale.

Patil farms 14 acres of bananas in total. He’s already sold half his produce since August. Now he’s watching the rest ripen with growing anxiety – the prices in Burhanpur mandi don’t even cover his costs.

One of the lucky few the government keeps pointing to is Panduranga Vitthal, a farmer from the same banana growing district. He got a hefty ₹3,60,000 in relief and is now being used as the poster boy for their support efforts. But his case is the exception, not the norm. Most farmers are still waiting for real help.

Local ministers praise the government’s relief efforts, farmer organizations are demanding real action on falling banana prices, lack of insurance, and inclusion of bananas in mid-day meal schemes. The Progressive Farmers’ Union submitted a memorandum to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan through the local collector, demanding the government declare a minimum support price of ₹2,000 per quintal for bananas.

Despite crores in compensation, banana farmers in Burhanpur – the state’s top banana-producing district – say they’re getting only short-term relief when they need long-term support.

With prices crashing, no crop insurance, and little market backing, thousands remain at risk of debt and total crop loss. Farmers are demanding a ₹2,000 minimum support price and inclusion of bananas in mid-day meal schemes to keep their livelihoods afloat.

Banana District in Crisis

According to the National Horticulture Board, Madhya Pradesh is the sixth-largest banana-producing state in the country. Banana cultivation takes place here on 35,314.24 hectares. Burhanpur is the state’s highest banana-producing district. Here, approximately 18,660 farmers produce 17 lakh tons of bananas on 25,000 hectares. Besides different districts of Madhya Pradesh, this fruit is also exported to Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, as well as Iraq, Iran, Dubai, Bahrain, and Turkey.

Mamleshwar explains that every year between June and August, banana plant cultivation begins. It is a 12-month crop that is harvested 3 to 4 times. One acre of orchard has approximately 1,800 trees, while one tree yields a maximum of 25 kg of bananas. Farmers say that with increasing prices of pesticides and management expenses, the cost of banana cultivation is rising every year. Prices were better in August this year, but at the end of the season, prices have now dropped significantly.

“When I sold bananas in June-July, I got a rate of 1000 to 1500 (per quintal). Now I’m only getting 350-400. The cost per quintal of bananas itself exceeds 450 rupees,” Mamleshwar adds.

Raghunath Patil (72), state president of the Pragatisheel Kisan Sangh and himself a banana farmer on 12 acres, also agrees that despite good crops, farmers are not getting fair prices. In recent days, exports have been affected due to natural disasters like floods and landslides in major consumer states like Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu-Kashmir. In the first week of September, while 25 to 30 trucks used to leave the district daily for exports, not even one truck was exported.

Raghunath says the government should set the minimum support price for bananas at 2000 rupees. He says that when prices fall below MSP, farmers should be given benefits under the Bhavantar scheme. Mamleshwar also believes that if the government announces an MSP of 2000 rupees for bananas, local traders will have to buy bananas at this price. However, no law of the central or state government forces traders to do so.

Damaged by Storms

This year has not been very good for banana farmers in Burhanpur. This year saw several rounds of storms that affected crops. First, crops were damaged in May, then on August 27 and 28, and again during the peak season on September 16-17, banana crops were affected by storms. According to a news report, approximately 100 acres of crops were affected in September due to excessive rainfall.

However, this is not the first season when weather conditions have adversely affected crops. Mamleshwar says such losses occur continuously. Sharing his experience, he says, “About 2 years ago, half the trees in one of my plots fell and were damaged after a storm.” Local MLA Archana Chitnis also mentioned that the Chief Minister had previously provided compensation of 65 crore rupees for banana crops damaged in May-June 2024.

Raghunath says banana producers suffer the most loss from Panama wilt. He explains that when temperatures exceed 45 degrees Celsius, the risk of this disease increases in banana crops. Panama disease is a type of fungal disease that is soil-borne. This disease damages the vascular tissues of the banana plant, obstructing the circulation of water and nutrients in the plant. The leaves of affected plants gradually turn yellow and eventually wilt.

The Insurance Gap

Mamleshwar and thousands of banana farmers across Madhya Pradesh cannot access the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme – bananas simply aren’t covered, despite years of demands from farmer organizations.

Raghunath, a local farmer leader, says banana crop insurance existed until 2018 but was discontinued when the new state government took office in 2019. When farmers approached officials, they were told no insurance company is interested in covering bananas.

A July 2019 Lok Sabha reply confirms that seven crops are covered under the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme in Madhya Pradesh but bananas aren’t among them, even though the scheme is designed for horticultural crops hit by natural disasters.

The exclusion stings especially hard for Burhanpur farmers. Just across the border in Maharashtra, banana growers receive insurance benefits. “They’re just a few kilometers away – why not us?” farmers ask.

On Friday, local MLA Chitnis said she’d raised the demand with the Chief Minister to include bananas in the insurance scheme. The CM has assured action soon.

Like Madhya Pradesh, banana prices have also dropped significantly in other parts of the country this time. In Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, Govardhan Verma ran a tractor over his 3-acre hard banana crop. Another farmer, Manjit, did the same with his 2-acre crop. Explaining the reason, a trader from Burhanpur says, “Banana production across the country has increased while demand has decreased. Trucks that used to go to major states are not going there due to floods and landslides, so no trader wants to incur losses from their pocket by paying higher rates.”

Raghunath says on this issue that if bananas are included in mid-day meals across the country, demand can be maintained. He says bananas are nutritious, so this will address both the nutrition problem and farmers’ crisis. However, in some states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, bananas are part of mid-day meals. But not in Madhya Pradesh. This was not discussed at all in Friday’s dialogue.

Bananas are an important crop for farmers in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh. Many farmers like Mamleshwar are earning their annual income by cultivating only this crop. In this situation, it is necessary that along with compensation, the government finds a permanent solution to these farmers’ problems.

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