Mysuru's Nanjangud banana slipping out of farmers' favour

The cultivation of the famed Nanjangud rasabale (Nanjangud banana), known to be nutrient-dense and to have the consistency of butter, is on its last legs in the state. Less than a handful of farmers are growing the variety on about 10 acres of land.

The Mysuru mallige (Mysuru jasmine), the subject of several songs, and the Mysuru vilyadele (Mysuru betel leaf) have a diminished presence on an estimated 10 acres and 25 acres of land respectively.

These crops had even found mention in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s budget speech. The CM mentioned a new initiative to brand and market farm produce that has been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

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Farmers and experts fear that such an initiative will hardly suffice to tackle the issue at hand — a drastic reduction in the popularity of such varieties among farmers due to their vulnerability to crop disease and changed climate.

Out of the 46 GI tags that the state has secured to date, 22 are agricultural goods. S V Hittalmani, former additional director of horticulture, explains that until now, the GI tag has only served to protect these varieties from unauthorised use. It has done little to increase the financial viability of the produce.

“When GI tags were awarded, there was a need to also strengthen the producers of the products by collectivising them through associations. This has not happened in many cases,” he says.

“There is an immediate need for researchers to save and multiply the crop. The second step is to ensure farmers get research support to endure crop diseases,” he says.

The rasabale for instance, is increasingly vulnerable to Panama wilt (Fusarium oxysporum). It is because of this disease that Parashivamurthy, from Chinamballi village, Nanjangud taluk, stopped cultivating the variety. His fields are now lined with yelakki banana saplings.

“Ten to 15 years back, the Nanjangud rasabale grew on at least an acre in our fields,” says Parashivamurthy.

In fact, Dr Vishnuvardhan, dean of Horticulture College, Mysuru, estimates that only 30 years ago, the rasabale was cultivated on almost 30,000 hectares.

But Panama wilt, and increased cultivation costs, have signalled the end of the rasabale, with only about 10 acres under the crop. “The (horticulture) department has given us some saplings. Even those have the wilt now. The wilt is affecting plants that are two to three months old,” he says.

Farmers are unable to even break even and explain that it takes Rs 100-150 to cultivate a sapling. Even if half of the rasabale plants survive, farmers would be able to recover investment costs, however, even that has proved a tall task. Without headway in research, Parashivamurthy says, “The rasabale is impossible to grow.”

As a result, though the crop has a GI tag, and is a household name in the region, saplings and seedlings are hard to come by, says Mandya-based farmer Boregowda who has tried to conserve the rasabale variety. “Some years back, I was able to grow and multiply the plants. Now, it is hard to find the variety,” he says.

"Research is going on to see how we can help farmers manage the Panama wilt," Vishnuvardhan says.

Mysuru mallige and vilyedele

Cultivation costs and long yield times have stalled farmers’ plans to cultivate the Mysuru mallige as well.

"The plants start flowering properly only after five years. The first two to three years there is very little yield," says T Krishnappa, a Mysuru mallige farmer.

To get a good profit, the flower should be grown on a large scale, however dwindling landholdings do not allow for this.

The horticulture department in Mysuru has taken up several measures, including multiplication of plant species and a Rs 99,000 subsidy for farmers growing a hectare of the GI crop. “We have given these saplings to various farmers and have encouraged them to continue cultivating,” says Rudresh, deputy director, Department of Horticulture, Mysuru district.

He adds that the department has already begun work to survey and study these varieties after the CM’s budget speech.

Lack of updated information has made it difficult to even to ascertain the status of crops with GI tags. Hittalmani explains that in the case of agricultural produce, it is vital for timely surveys to understand who, where and how much the crop was cultivated so necessary interventions can be planned.