Banana Farming:Monsoon Protection

Rain season is great hope for farmers.The strength of  the Monsoon  determines the agricultural economy and its success in India.So majority of farmers in India welcome a good Monsoon.But there are some farming sectors where Monsoon possess great threat.Banana farming is one of such sector where the heavy wind accompanied by Monsoon causes heavy damage.Yearly Indian banana farmers loss crores because of heavy wind.During monsoon season,the attack of Insects also increases.Weeds also cause issues.So here we are going to discuss how to protect our Banana plants during Raining season

Protection Against wind

This is the major issue faced by Banana farmers during Monsoon.There are different methods to protect your Banana plants from Wind.

• The location of your farm land is very important.Try to do Banana farming at location where you will get a shield from Monsoon wind.
• Provide strong support to your Banana plants.Each Plant should have its own support and try to interconnect the supports.If the farm land is located in a Heavy wind area,this will not hold for long.In this case you should do combination of all methods.
• Plant Casuarina plants as a Bio-shield in your farm land. Casuarina plants are well known for its ability to Break wind.Its a well known wind breaker.Apart from the revenue you will get from Banana farming,Casuarina will provide additional income to farmers as it is used in preparation of pulps which has great demand in paper industry.So the farmer will get double benefit from Casuarina. This Bio-shield method is proven in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and eastern parts of Kerala.
• Mixed farming is another method to protect Banana Plants from wind.Having different Crops in your farm not only protect you from wind,but also from price fluctuations and plant diseases.
• Use Dwarf Breeds of Banana Plants in your farm.As the height of the plants increases,the chance of damage caused by Wind also increases.  

Protection Against Insects

Insect attack increases during monsoon season.Frequent observation of your plants will help you to identify the attack and take necessary action against them.Use Organic pesticides to reduce Insect attacks.Following mixed farming also help you to reduce Insect attack naturally.If you observe any abnormal Insect attacks on your banana plants,get the help from your nearby government agencies like Krishibhavan or  Krishivigyan Kendra.Their services are free of cost.

Protection Against weeds

During monsoon season,Weeds grow very fast.Do not use chemicals for removing weeds as it pollute your soil and it will act against you in future.Remove the weeds Manually or using weed removing machines.Do it frequently so that it will not affect your plants very badly.

Protection Against Flood

The important step you need to do to protect your banana plants against Flood is that you should provide maximum drainage facility in your farm land.You should open deep trenches between plant rows for drainage.Observe your farm land frequently and remove any water logging in your farm land.

These are some of the issues you will face during monsoon season.By following the steps given above you can reduce the damage caused by Monsoon to your Banana plants.Apart from these ideas,if you have any suggestion you are free to comment below.

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Challenges faced by Banana farmers

 As banana farming is more profitable compared to other crops,many young farmers are interested to start this farm business.But there are so risk factors and challenges associated with it.So before starting the business,it is good to know the difficulties and challenges faced by banana farmers.This will help us to identify our weak areas and do proper planning for the farm business we are going to start.Below are some of the major challenges associated with banana farming.

Unavailability of quality suckers

 Unlike other crops,for banana plantation we are using suckers from the mother plants.The suckers should be free from pests and other diseases and should have good growth rate.The availability of quality suckers are very less in major areas.This is one of the major issues faced by banana farmers.many farmers are not aware about the quality of suckers they buy.for a successful banana farming,it is important that we use high quality suckers which are disease and pests free.Maintaining quality suckers for next plantation is one way to overcome this issue if you are confident with the current plantation.Usage of tissue cultured plantlets will help alot in overcoming quality issues.But be careful while choosing the source of it.

Wind

 Wind is one of the main threat to banana plantations.Every year wind destroys a decent portion of banana plantation across the country.Normally a wind having speed above 80Km/hr is a possible threat to banana plantation.Usage of supports will help to some extend.The location of the banana plantation is an important factor in reducing the effects of wind.Try to do plantation in an area where there is some cover available to reduce the wind speed.

Pests and Diseases

 There are so many pests and diseases associated with Banana farming.Some of them are various types of caterpillars,moths,mites,bugs,bunchy top,panama disease etc.Treating pets and diseases are time consuming and costly.So it is better to avoid them from plantation by using quality suckers which are free from these diseases and pests.

Wild animals

 Attack from wild animals are another threat to Banana farming.Wild boars and Monkeys are major threats.For avoiding them,farmers use various techniques.Usage of crackers and Nets are some techniques.However wild animals cause lots of damages to banana plantation.

Unavailability of Man powers and Increasing labor costs

 As banana farming is a labor intensive farming,manpower requirement is very high.But many people are not ready to work in banana plantations as the job is less attractive.Those who work charge high rate.These things makes Banana farming a challenging business for many farmers.So before planning for banana farming,we need to consider this thing also.

Varying market price

 The market price for Banana always vary.It depends upon the requirement from customer and availability of bananas in the market.At some festival seasons,the price will go high.So while planting,we need to target such festival seasons for getting high price for our Bananas.

  Above are some brief descriptions about some issues faced by banana farmers.If you have anything extra to add,you can always comment below.We hope above points will help us to plan well for our plantation before implementing it.

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Banana Farming

 Banana cultivation is one of the traditional area of farming in India.As it is labor intensive farming,it creates huge job opportunities in farming sector.The quick and high return on investment is one of the attraction of this farm business.India is one of the top five Banana producing countries in the world.Due to huge domestic demand,all Fruits produced are consumed locally.Still our production is not up to the demand exists.This leaves good business opportunities for young entrepreneurs to enter in this field.

 The main attraction of Banana farming is that 'everything is available locally'.From the seed for planting to the marketing,everything we can find locally.For selling,no need to worry we have huge local market which will accept all of our production with decent return.All we need to do is follow proper procedure of farming and produce quality fruits.

 Commercial Banana production is one of the revenue generating sector in Banana cultivation.This ensures huge income generating opportunities for Banana farmers.As we were cultivating Banana for centuries,many farmers still follow traditional methods of Banana farming .Then also they get decent income from Banana farming.The production per Acre is less in traditional methods.There are lots of newly introduced technologies to improve the production and generate income.Coming posts are based on banana production and from those posts we can get an idea about how we can convert Banana farming as a good revenue source.

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