Banana farmers in Ernakulam district are among the first to enjoy the fruit of the newly-introduced support price system in which the government will compensate them for the gap between support and market prices.
The price of 1 kg of the ‘nendran’ variety has come down to between ₹15 and ₹20, said a senior official of the Department of Agriculture. This implies that after the new support price system came into effect on November 1, farmers selling their produce get some help from the government. The support price of the nendran variety is ₹30 a kg.
The official said that the scheme worked in a specific way—the farmer registered with the Department of Agriculture will be compensated if the price of the notified 16 items falls below the support price. When the produce is sold, the registered farmer will get the market price. But then, the gap between the support price and the market price will be remitted to the farmer’s account once the details are submitted. That is,…