Standing amidst his ruined grove, at Dighalbank, in Kishanganj district, Bihar, 390 kilometres from the state capital Patna, Safiur Rahman is worrying about the Kisan Credit Card loan of Rs 50,000 he has to repay. He is already reeling under losses he has incurred due to a failed banana crop, and his savings have almost run dry. He has spent more than three lakh rupees on the current crop of bananas, that are all gone due to heavy rainfall and floods, and he has no hope of help from the government.

“No officer has come to investigate the damage that we have suffered. We have long given up on the government. We are totally dependent on farming for our livelihood, so in the event of a farming loss, we end up with debts,” he told Gaon Connection.

Several farmers in Kishanganj district of Bihar have switched from paddy to banana cultivation as it has proved to be profitable in the past. Bihar alone accounted for over 31,000 hectares of banana plantations in 2017-18, that yielded nearly 14,000 million tonnes of the fruit.  

“This year, incessant rains with gales and floods have caused us great damage. I had cultivated bananas on two acres of farmland along the river Kankai. Half of it went underwater. Another five acres of my banana crop were also felled by thunderstorm and heavy rains,” lamented Amin Hussain, another resident of Dighalbank in Bihar.  

Like Rahman, Hussain is also a worried man. “I had drawn a KCC [Kisan Credit Card] loan of two lakh rupees to cultivate bananas. How am I to repay the loan now? I may have to go to Punjab and work for wages there in order to repay my loan,” he said.

Hussain is one among the several farmers in Kishanganj district who had forsaken traditional paddy cultivation to take up banana cultivation for a higher income. This year, however, failure of the banana crop and government apathy has put them in grief, and despite being land owners, many of the farmers are seriously considering moving to Delhi and Punjab to seek employment. 

A few decades ago, banana cultivation in Bihar was largely undertaken in Bhagalpur and adjoining areas but gradually, the farmers in other parts of the state, including Kishanganj district, began cultivating them on a large scale. Kishanganj farmers largely cultivate the much sought after ‘Malbhog’ variety that fetches its farmers a better price.  

“Last year, bananas sold for Rs 2,000 a quintal. Currently, it is selling at the rate of Rs 800 a quintal. Our losses have been huge this year,” rued Mohammad Imran Alam, a farmer from Talwarbandha, also in Kishanganj district. “If I manage to sell my remaining produce at a decent rate, I can curtail my losses,” hoped Alam who has been cultivating bananas for the past 10 years. He has a loan of a lakh of rupees and has suffered a loss of more than one and a half lakhs thanks to storms in his region. 

The erratic weather has only increased input costs for the hapless farmers. “Never before have we supported banana trees with bamboo and rope. This time, it had to be done and it had added to my farming cost,” said Alam. 

Despite the lockdown being lifted, the farmers are unable to send out their produce. “The transporters say that the policemen still stop them on the way, and so they are reluctant to carry goods to other states,” added Alam. 

The vagaries of weather have caused untold distress. There were rains, followed by floods and then bright sunshine, none of which is friendly for banana cultivation.  

Bright sunshine following the rains, is causing the bananas to ripen prematurely and no one wants to buy them. If it has not been the sunshine, it has been the unseasonal rains. “Due to the excessive rains, the banana fields flooded and the plants rotted,” added Rahman. 

“Banana cultivation must always be done on the upper ground. This year, it had rained from April to the first week of October in Kishanganj and so the ground remained water logged. This situation is highly unfavourable for bananas,” VB Jha, associate dean and principal of Dr Kalam Agricultural College, Kishanganj, explained to Gaon Connection. He added how many farmers were not armed with the right kind of information and instead of consulting agricultural experts, they preferred to seek advice from the shopkeepers selling pesticides. “Despite the weather changes, potential losses can be avoided if farmers have the right information and awareness,” Jha stated.

On being contacted, the Dighalbank block development officer declined to comment on the loss of the banana crop and the matter of compensation for banana growing farmers. The block agriculture officer, Naresh Mandal, first denied there was any damage to the crops by the thunderstorms, then said that, “A report has been sent to the district office”, and refused to comment any further.