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Too Little, Too Late: West Asia Ceasefire Fails to Save Rayalaseema’s Banana Farmers

By prasanna jodidar
Too Little, Too Late: West Asia Ceasefire Fails to Save Rayalaseema’s Banana Farmers

From Export Gold to Orchard Waste: How the Red Sea Conflict Crushed AP’s Banana Trade

For Andhra Pradesh farmers, Iran-US-Israel ceasefire has come too late. Especially for the Rayalaseema Banana growers.  While the truce offers a temporary pause and relief in hostilities between the US-Israel combine and Iran, the damage to the current harvest season is already irreparable for the Rayalaseema region.

The war, which escalated during the peak export window which starts in mid-February and goes on till late March, petrified the shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, cutting off access to major Gulf markets like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, Qatar and Afghanistan. Skechers Women Summits Sneakers

Banana prices, which were between ₹22,000 and ₹25,000 per tonne in early February, fell down to a devastating ₹5,000 to ₹8,000 per tonne by April. Approximately 60% of the season's crop remains unsold or rotting in orchards without customers.

In Anantapur and Kadapa, ripe bananas are being discarded because the cost of labour to harvest them is more than the market price. It means, a farmer cultivating on 10 acres has incurred losses of ₹15 to ₹20 lakhs this season. The pathetic business condition and the war climate in Middle East have hit the Rayalaseema Banana growers very badly. The "Beggar" Becomes the Mediator: Pakistan’s High-Stakes Gamble

The G9 or Grand Naine, an exclusive variety grown in Rayalaseema is highly sought after for its 12-day shelf life, making it ideal for Gulf exports. But for this season when the shipments were ready, shipping lanes were frozen cause of war. More than 1,000 containers of Indian produce bananas, grapes, and onions, remained stranded at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority in Mumbai. Geopolitics of Greed and Fear: The Fragile Reality of the New Truce

With exports stopped, the local market was flooded with "export-quality" fruit. Local traders did exploit the situation, offering as little as ₹5 per kg, which does not even cover the input costs of ₹1.5 lakh per acre.

Now, Andhra Pradesh farmers, especially Rayalaseema Banana growers are agitating and asking for the compensation from the state government.