Fruit-lovers go bananas over steep rise in plantain prices

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsYou might want to think twice before you wolf down your customary post-dinner yellow plantain. Plantain prices have doubled in the last month, so much so that a single plantain is no longer available for an affordable Rs 3 at the neighbourhood petti kadai. “You’ll only get it at that rate if it’s overripe or damaged,” remarked a shopkeeper wisely.Wholesalers at the Koyambedu market attribute the price rise to a well-known suspect - scanty rainfall.“Normally, at least a thousand fruits could be grown on an acre of land. Due to lack of rains, the output is down to a paltry 500 fruits per acre,” says D Suresh Sanjay, president, Chennai Koyambedu Plantain Wholesale Merchants Association.To make matters worse, the aadi month has seen a number of festivals and temple programmes that invariably require large quantities of plantains, banana leaves and trees.With the supply dwindling and the demand increasing, wholesalers have had no other option but to increase the price “by nearly two and a half times,” according to Suresh.He further explains that the wholesalers have to ensure that other overhead expenses like transport and labour costs involved are taken care of, which adds to the retail price.Reflecting on the extreme rise in price of the commonest Indian dessert-druit, M Chakradhar, a marketing executive, feels that the economically less-privileged will definitely feel the pinch, “People generally end their day with a banana. Some people even eat bananas for dinner to keep it light,” he says.VR Sriramadesikan, a resident of Triplicane, opines that the price rise in a essential fruit will lead to people having to switch over to other fruits.Customers who come directly to purchase from wholesalers are also left with no other choice.“Some actually do not believe that the prices have increased, they take stock from other wholesalers in the market and finally resort to buying it at the present rates,“ says G Ethiraj, wholesaler of plantains at the Koyambedu Market.first published:August 13, 2012, 08:48 ISTlast updated:August 13, 2012, 08:48 IST
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You might want to think twice before you wolf down your customary post-dinner yellow plantain. Plantain prices have doubled in the last month, so much so that a single plantain is no longer available for an affordable Rs 3 at the neighbourhood petti kadai. “You’ll only get it at that rate if it’s overripe or damaged,” remarked a shopkeeper wisely.

Wholesalers at the Koyambedu market attribute the price rise to a well-known suspect - scanty rainfall.

“Normally, at least a thousand fruits could be grown on an acre of land. Due to lack of rains, the output is down to a paltry 500 fruits per acre,” says D Suresh Sanjay, president, Chennai Koyambedu Plantain Wholesale Merchants Association.

To make matters worse, the aadi month has seen a number of festivals and temple programmes that invariably require large quantities of plantains, banana leaves and trees.

With the supply dwindling and the demand increasing, wholesalers have had no other option but to increase the price “by nearly two and a half times,” according to Suresh.

He further explains that the wholesalers have to ensure that other overhead expenses like transport and labour costs involved are taken care of, which adds to the retail price.

Reflecting on the extreme rise in price of the commonest Indian dessert-druit, M Chakradhar, a marketing executive, feels that the economically less-privileged will definitely feel the pinch, “People generally end their day with a banana. Some people even eat bananas for dinner to keep it light,” he says.

VR Sriramadesikan, a resident of Triplicane, opines that the price rise in a essential fruit will lead to people having to switch over to other fruits.

Customers who come directly to purchase from wholesalers are also left with no other choice.

“Some actually do not believe that the prices have increased, they take stock from other wholesalers in the market and finally resort to buying it at the present rates,“ says G Ethiraj, wholesaler of plantains at the Koyambedu Market.