Beni Municipality, Myagdi – The farmers of Khabara, a village in Beni Municipality-2 with over 150 households, are facing significant challenges in selling their banana produce. Despite the widespread adoption of commercial banana farming, the fruits are struggling to find buyers, leaving farmers anxious about their livelihoods.
With the onset of winter, banana sales have sharply declined, and ripe bananas are now going to waste, becoming food for birds. Farmer Buddhabir Pariyar, who used to sell up to 20 bunches weekly, laments that sales have dropped to less than five bunches per week.
Khabara has become a hub for banana farming, with annual sales previously exceeding NPR 20 million, according to the Radha Krishna Agricultural Cooperative. However, this year, farmers like Hira Kunwar, who turned to banana cultivation as an alternative to traditional crops such as rice and millet, are disheartened by plummeting prices and market saturation.
The price of bananas has fallen from NPR 180 to NPR 100 per dozen, while demand has dropped sharply. Beni-based fruit vendor Shree Krishna Subedi attributes the downturn to cold weather, which has curtailed consumption. During summer, the region saw daily sales of up to 20 dozen bananas, but winter sales have dwindled to just two or three dozen.
Despite limited local demand, the past five years have seen a reduction in banana imports from India and the Terai region, thanks to increased local production. However, Sobit Sharma (Sapkota), chairperson of the Radha Krishna Agricultural Cooperative, says farmers are now grappling with surplus production, limited markets, and unfavorable weather conditions.
In response, efforts are underway to diversify banana-based products and explore markets in nearby cities such as Pokhara, Baglung, and Kushma. The municipality, under its Banana Pocket Program, has supported banana cultivation on more than 500 ropanis of land, with over 16,000 banana plants in the region.
To aid farmers, Beni Municipality has initiated training programs to produce thread from banana stems and organic fertilizer from decomposed stems. Deputy Mayor Jyoti Lamichhane emphasized the importance of such initiatives in combating poverty. "We are collaborating with the Milan Institution’s IDEA project to promote innovative uses of banana byproducts and create sustainable markets for farmers," she said.
While these measures offer hope, farmers in Khabara continue to face uncertainty as they await better market conditions and support for their agricultural endeavors.
