With the aim of giving banana production a quality fillip in Prayagraj region, a state-of-the-art tissue culture lab has been set up by an investor with the support of the Uttar Pradesh government in Chilla Shah Bazi village of Kaushambi district.
The lab is first-of-its-kind in Purvanchal region of the state. It has been set up with a cost of ₹2.8 crore with state government’s financial support worth ₹1 crore, said state horticulture department officials. The lab has been set up by M/s Pratham Enterprises, Prayagraj, in collaboration with department of horticulture and food processing under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
It will produce 30 lakh tissue culture banana plants for the farmers of the region annually, said deputy director, horticulture, Prayagraj, Krishna Mohan Chowdhary. Till now, these farmers had to depend for such plants to come in from as far as Maharashtra and West Bengal which made them costly and time-taking for the farmers often resulting in loses for them. But now these plants would become available to them locally through this lab, he added.
“Currently, around 1500 farmers are cultivating banana on 1700 hectare land in Kaushambi district alone,” he said. As per the state horticulture department officials, the need for banana tissue culture lab was being felt for the past few years not just for Prayagraj division but in other banana producing districts of Purvanchal area as well like Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj and Siddharthnagar among others.
{{/usCountry}}“Currently, around 1500 farmers are cultivating banana on 1700 hectare land in Kaushambi district alone,” he said. As per the state horticulture department officials, the need for banana tissue culture lab was being felt for the past few years not just for Prayagraj division but in other banana producing districts of Purvanchal area as well like Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj and Siddharthnagar among others.
{{/usCountry}}Chaudhary said with the help of this lab, not just banana production and its quality would receive a boost, but the earnings of farmers too would improve. By cultivating banana in one hectare, farmers can make a profit of about ₹8 lakh. Although the best time for planting banana is June-July, some farmers plant it till August. It is also cultivated around January-February. This crop is fully ready in about 12-14 months. Up to 3,000 banana plants are planted in one hectare.
At present, Uttar Pradesh witnesses banana cultivation in more than 68000 hectares of land and every year produces more than 30 metric tonnes of bananas. Lakhimpur Kheri leads in banana production, which is followed by Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Prayagraj and Kaushambi.