Banana grower Adhinath Barve of Junnar tehsil in Pune district is expecting to double his exports when he begins harvesting his three-acre plantation in February next year. Barve, along with 100-odd farmers of the tehsil, is associated with a campaign initiated by Shivneri Agriculture Graduates’ Association that is mobilising banana growers here to move into the space created in the export market with Philippines cutting on its banana exports.

“Last year, eight containers of around 100 tonnes each were sent to the Gulf. In the coming months, we expect to export at least twice as much,” Barve said. Junnar itself has around 4,000 acres under banana plantation which can cater well to exports, they say.

“Philippines is primarily into rice and banana plantation, but the latter is better paying. This resulted in many farmers shifting to banana plantation, which led to a shortage of rice there. Their government has now made it compulsory for farmers to grow rice along with banana on their farms,” said Santosh Sahane, a banana grower, a member of the association and an exporter.

“We can easily be market leaders in exports, at least to the Gulf countries. A major advantage is that it takes less than a week for our shipments to reach these countries. But from Philippines, it takes 22 days via sea,” Sahane said.

Last year, Sahane exported around seven containers of 15 tonnes each. This time, he thinks he can take the count to 25.

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