BENGALURU: Weather events in Tamil Nadu have caused the prices of bananas to crash in Bengaluru!The extreme heat in Mettur in Tamil Nadu, which was preceded by gusty winds, has led to a glut of unripe, lower-quality bananas in Bengaluru markets, leading to a drop of at least Rs 15 per kg across two different varieties of bananas.The yelakki banana, which was selling at Rs 60-65 per kg, is now selling at anywhere between Rs 15-40 per kg, while the robusta variety, which was selling at Rs 20-25 per kg just a month ago, is now selling at Rs 7-10 per kg in banana mandi in Binny Mill and KR Market. “The prices started crashing after Ramzan as the demand reduced and the supply started increasing,” said Ayyub, a banana trader from the Binny Mill mandi.KG Purushotham, president, Banana Fruits Merchants’ Association, said: “We are not seeing a lot of bananas from Karnataka as of now. A majority of them have come in from Mettur. The heavy winds and the heat there made the fruits drop from the plants before harvest season. To prevent further losses, farmers also pre-emptively started harvesting bananas that were just 40-60% ripe. The inflow of such bananas has created a glut in the market, and that, coupled with lack of quality, has led to a price crash.“Senthil Kumar, a banana trader from KR Market, added, “The farmers from Tamil Nadu wanted to empty their trucks in which they brought the fruits. They did not care about the price and sold them at very cheap prices. Naturally, the prices across the market also fell because of that.”Like many other commodities, bananas have also become cheaper as exports to West Asia have taken a hit due to the ongoing conflict. “The bananas from Gundlupet and Kollegala were going to Kerala and then exported to Arab countries. Now, even those bananas are stuck in local markets only,” Purushotham said.However, by June-July, the prices of bananas are expected to climb back up as the supply from Mettur will stop, and good-quality fruits start arriving in the market from within the state. “Yelakki variety especially will start going up in a month’s time and just when the prices begin to stabilise, we will see the festive season, which can spike up the prices,” Senthil said.
