Nepalese Banana Producers Urge Ban on Imports During Festivals

Kathmandu, September 17: Banana producers in Nepal have made a public appeal not to import bananas at this time, as locally produced bananas are sufficient to meet the demand during Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath festivals.

Vishnuhari Pant, central president of the Nepal Banana Producers Federation in Kathmandu, stated that banana production in Nepal is currently encouraging, and the local produce is enough to meet festival demand. He said all wholesale fruit and vegetable trader associations across the country have been requested not to import bananas.

Pant mentioned that the federation has officially communicated with fruit and vegetable wholesale associations nationwide, urging them not to import bananas. The request letter highlights that although banana production in Nepal is currently robust and sufficient to meet local market demand through Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath, foreign bananas are still being freely imported into the Nepalese market.

The letter warns that such imports could directly affect the Nepalese economy, increase the trade deficit, threaten employment, displace local commercial banana farmers, and potentially provoke widespread protests from farmers across districts.

The request letter stated, “Considering the current challenging circumstances of the country, we urge all associations and traders to coordinate and discuss with concerned traders to ensure that no bananas are imported from India after 6 Ashoj. The federation will not be held responsible for any damage that local farmers or supporters may cause if traders forcibly import bananas.”

Eight committees and representatives of banana-producing farmers jointly issued the statement.

The statement was signed by Ghananath Mahato, president of the Chitwan Banana Producers Association; Dipendra Tharu, president of Kailali; Surendra Chaudhary, president of Kanchanpur; Toplal Tharu, president of Bardiya; Lakhu Bk, president of Nawalparasi; former Chitwan president Yagyaprasad Subedi; vice-president of Kailali, Tekendra Dhami; and Yubaraj Maurya, coordinator of the Banana Zone Coordination Committee, Nawalparasi, calling for a ban on banana imports.