Production economics and mechanization gaps of Banana cultivation in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh

Banana is an important horticultural crop grown under irrigated conditions in an area of 16,159 hectares (34% of total area) in Madhya Pradesh with the total production of 6,53,793 tonnes. Based on the area of banana, the study has been conducted in the Burhanpur and Khaknar blocks of Burhanpur district with a total sample of 22 banana-growers. The data on cost of cultivation, mechanization status and gaps and marketing of banana have been obtained for the year 2004–05 with the help of a specially designed questionnaire. The per hectare cost of cultivation of banana has worked out to be Rs 85,828, while total operational cost has been Rs 58,021. The per quintal production cost has worked out to be Rs 231. The yield per hectare has been worked out to be 371 quintals. The per hectare gross return to the cultivators has been found as Rs 1,81,111 and per quintal gross price realized is Rs 438. Thus, per quintal net price received by the producer has been found as Rs 255 and benefit-cost ratio as 2.11. Most of the important operations are performed manually. Thus, mechanization gaps for important operations like pit digging, manure and fertilizer application, inter-culture and suckers/clumps removal needs to be taken for proper utilization of the potential. The co-operative fruit marketing societies, locally called Kela Groups, have to improve their work performance by adopting grading and correct weighing. The study has suggested that market intelligence need be provided to the growers to increase their marketing efficiency.