BANANA, the delicious and nutritious fruit for all ages is very much absent from fruit stalls in Karachi. If available at all the quality is poor and the prices high.
For some, the table of Iftar without banana is almost incomplete, particularly absence of banana from fruit chaat.
Facing short supplies, fruit vendors know that Banana crop is under the grip of a serious virus which has destroyed the orchards. The disease called bunchy top virus disease (BTVD) has destroyed almost 70 per cent of the crop in Sindh and the situation is worsening day by day.
Qamruzzaman Shah, Chairman Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, disclosed the other day that 70 per cent of banana crop in the province is under BTVD attack. He said 650 acres in Sanghar which produced around 60,000 pieces of the fruit per acre were affected by the disease that was still spreading.
Around 25,000 acres in Sindh produces quality bananas round the year which fetched reasonable prices. During Ramazan the price of an ordinary third grade banana is over Rs100 per dozen. Slightly better quality is selling between Rs150 and 200.
The incidence of the disease has been reported to the Horticulture Research Institute, Mirpurkhas, but in vain. Sindh has one of the best banana producing lands which yields around 209,800 tons annually. Thatta, Badin Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Nawabshah are the major districts where banana is grown. Recently its cultivation has been extended to Khairpur and Sakkur.
The growers, it is reported, have been so much disgusted with the virus attack that they have stopped spraying their standing crop with pesticides. They do not know how to get rid of the disease. The virus had affected all varieties of banana grown in the province, farmers said.
Earlier, the disease had never assumed such an alarming proportion and was not a serious problem, Shah had said.
Banana, introduced in Sindh in 1913 with species brought from Mumbai and later from Pune, Kolkata and Sri Lanka, is now cultivated almost all over the province throughout the year.
Banana is an inexpensive fruit with rich nutritional value. It is rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals and tissue-building elements. The easily assailable sugar makes it an excellent means of recovery from sickness. Being rich in iron it is also beneficial for anaemic people. In combination with milk the proteins, vitamins and minerals in the fruit make it a complete balanced diet providing three essential amino acids. The fruit is also good for those who suffer from stomach disorder like constipation, diarrhoea and dysentery.
Banana also provides employment to thousands of farm workers, contractors, transporters, commission agents, wholesalers and retailers.
The crop is much more susceptible to diseases than to insects and pests. Many of the diseases affect the vascular system of banana and may be harmful for health. The recent cause of disease in Sindh is attributed to BTVD. No cure has so far been found against the disease.
Authorities also appear helpless.