Banana prices are poised to rise in India mainly due to the festival season and the crop damage caused by recent spells of wind and rain in banana-growing areas.

According to a survey carried out by the Domestic Export and Marketing Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), the average farmgate price of the tropical fruit will be around Rs. 26-28 per kg for Poovan, Rs. 28-30 for Karpooravalli and Rs. 38-40 per kg for Nendhran, respectively, in Coimbatore market during December 2023, subject to favourable weather conditions.

In Tamil Nadu, the area under banana is 1.02 lakh hectares, with production being 42.37 lakh tonnes during 2022-23. Major banana-growing districts are Erode, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tiruchi, and Kanyakumari. Significant centres include Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Theni and Coimbatore.

Among them, Tiruchi is one of the major centres for supplying fruit to various parts of the State.