Chhatrapati Shri Shivaji Maharaj helped Jalgaon become the Banana City of India!
Bananas are tropical fruits which love humidity. But Jalgaon
is neither a tropical region nor it is humid and is 300 kms away from the coast
with a scathingly hot climate receiving only 750 mm of rainfall.
So Jalgaon is an unlikely place to grow Bananas.
But still, it's the seventh largest producer of Bananas in
the world!
This success can be attributed to two factors:
1) The historical influence of Chhatrapati Shri Shivaji
Maharaj, who encouraged banana plantations as a portable food source for his
soldiers
2) The modern adoption of high-density planting and drip
irrigation technology.
When the Marathas entered Mughal territory, they found it
difficult to find food, as Aurangzeb had ordered the denial of food to Maratha
soldiers. To solve this problem, Chhatrapati Shri Shivaji Maharaj (Shivray)
asked the Maratha farmers settled in the Jalgaon region to take up banana
plantations, as bananas could be taken along for long army campaigns. This was
the beginning of banana plantations in Jalgaon, which had an unsuitable climate
for banana plantations.
As mentioned earlier, bananas love high humidity and Jalgaon
is not the place where you can find humidity. It has dry weather. However,
banana growers used their creativity and tried high-density planting in the
crop.
To make up for the lack of humidity, the banana growers used
high-density planting, where 1200 to 1500 plants per acre were planted instead
of the usual 800 to 1000. The high density created a humid microclimate around
the bananas, which trapped enough moisture and blocked hot air.
Additionally, drip irrigation was introduced in 1989, which
enabled the efficient use of the scarce water resources in the district. This
led to a three-fold increase in banana production, from 1.2 million tonnes to
3.4 million tonnes.
The banana plantations sustained because Shivray had strict
provisions to support these farmers with financial and technological aid. And
the aid was continued for half a century thereby establishing Jalgaon for
Banana plantations.
In the modern era, the Jalgaonkars seem to be inspired by
Shivray and have taken these plantations to world-class levels. Technological
inventions like drip irrigation and a shift in plantation style were
introduced, which led to an increase in banana production.
All this together created the perfect environment for
bananas to thrive.
Today, Jalgaon is known as the "land of bananas,"
with an average yield of 70 tonnes per hectare, which is higher than the global
levels. Its success in banana production is a testament to the ingenuity and
perseverance of its farmers, who overcame unfavorable conditions to make
Jalgaon one of the largest banana producers in the world.
And we all know perseverance needs inspiration which was
Chhatrapati Shri Shivaji Maharaj!
#shivajimaharaj #inspiration #maratha #marathaempire
#creativity #environment #entrepreneur
#india
#shivajimaharaj #inspiration #maratha #marathaempire #creativity #environment #entrepreneur #india
Please visit
how Shivaji Maharaj helped Jalgaon become the Banana capital of India
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें