The banana cluster of Jalgaon has been included in the cluster development program started under the National Horticulture Board of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of India.
Due to this, an opportunity has been provided to take bananas from Jalgaon district to the global level, and from this, banana producers and banana traders of the district participating in the cluster can get assistance of one hundred crores.
Today, banana is produced in 68 thousand hectares in the Jalgaon district. Banana is mainly produced in Raver, Yawal, Muktainagar, and Chopda talukas. Due to the land, water and climate here, the bananas produced here are in demand not only from the country but also from all over the world.
Through this banana culture, farmers will be provided with high-quality uniform seedlings through tissue culture, materials required for planting, mechanisation, and farmer training, like available warehouses, as well as post-production management and value addition, such as pack houses, ripening chambers, processing units, and cold chains will be available.
Attention will be paid to logistics, marketing, and branding, which will make it possible to increase banana exports due to cold transport, farmers' markets, and branding in the country and abroad. Farmers will be trained for all these things.
Till now, due to the lack of ripening chambers, processing units and cold storage facilities, bananas were damaged. Producers were facing difficulty in getting the expected value.
This problem will not arise now with this cluster. This will help in supplying bananas to the global market and banana exports.
Today, this cluster will be spread over an area of more than 15 thousand hectares. Up to 40 per cent of the funds are available for each component, and there will be more flexibility for joint projects.
Although farmer-producer organisations, cooperatives, companies, and entrepreneurs can apply to participate in this program, priority has been given to farmer organisations.
This cluster will benefit banana producers in the district, and due to improved cultivation technology training and available tissue culture seedlings, Jalgaon bananas have an opportunity to become a world-class brand.
Through this, Jalgaon bananas are getting an opportunity to reach the global level. This cluster centre is being set up at Hingone in Yawal taluka due to the efforts of Union Minister of State Raksha Khadse, and it is the only centre of its kind in Maharashtra. Yaval MLA Amol Javale, District Collector Ayush Prasad, Agriculture Department are making special efforts to set up this cluster.
