The plight of a banana loom..

India transports thousand MTs of banana looms every day some 1500 to 2000 kms away to consumption areas from source of production though either rail or road.

Looms (for uninitiated) are banana bunches as they grow at the plantations, that is, clusters of bananas (technically called hands) with the inedible stalk portion (6 to 10% of loom weight).

At consumption centers, one has to pays to physically cut and remove the inedible portion till landfills – Obviously, one also pay avoidable shipping charges to transport this useless byproduct over a long distance.

Apparently, it would make more sense and value adding to use the stalk (read bio-mass) at the production source itself to be recycled as organic manure.

But is it a right solution? The answers become hazy when one starts calculating the direct, indirect and environmental cost of alternatives – use of CFB Cartons and plastic container etc.

Any suggestions to resolve this banana dilemma? Remember – banana is a poor man’s fruit across India.


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