Dosas, cutlets, gulab jamuns: Banana flour is the newest spin from Karnataka farmers

A silent revolution is taking place among the farmers in the Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka because of banana flour. Every year, farmers are badly hit by the price drop in bananas. It would go down to Rs 4 or Rs 5 per kilogram for bananas, discouraging farmers from investing in this tropical crop or banana cultivation. This year was no different. Farmers had to use leftover bananas to feed their cattle. However, Nayana Anand, an organic farmer from Tumkur district, found a solution to put bananas to better and profitable use, thanks to a Facebook post.

In the first week of June this year, Nayana chanced upon a Facebook post shared by Shree Padre, a veteran journalist and an agriculture educator. The post detailed the various usage of dried banana powder, including its wide usage as baby food. "Nayana called me and insisted that she wanted to learn how to make banana powder,” Shree Padre told TNM. With the assistance of Jissy George, subject matter specialist, home science, at Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Alappuzha district of Kerala, Nayana quickly learnt the mechanism to use dry banana and turn it into powder.

That was the beginning! Shree Padre received many pictures from Nayana after she prepared the flour and started making a variety of delicacies out of it — dosas, chappatis, cutlets, gulab jamun, rotis and more. Nayana made both raw and ripe banana flour. That is when Shree Padre decided to give it a push among the other farmers through WhatsApp groups.

Nayana Anand

It is a simple procedure, said Padre. “The banana has to be dried in the sun for three days and then ground in a grinder. In case of large quantity, it can be powdered in a local mill. Many farmers have dryers that are used for various purposes. A dryer makes it easier to dry bananas even during the monsoon," he said.

Padre encouraged Nayana to teach other farmers, too. "Today, more than 100 farmers have started making banana flour and are selling it locally. Some of them even have sold up to 100 kilograms of the flour,” he said, adding that considering its success, they are planning to expand the market.

Like Nayana, farmers who took up the challenge also prepared a lot of dishes using the flour, often using it as a replacement for maida or other all-purpose flour.

Shree Padre said that the idea has reached more than 300 families and many are waiting for the monsoon to get over. "Even the elderly people have started doing this and are happy that they are producing a nutritional product than wasting it," he added.

Uma Prasanna, a farmer in Dakshina Kannada’s Puttur, too, made banana flour at home and tried out some new recipes after Padre told her about Nayana's innovation. “I made chappatis and pooris with banana flour. I also made cakes, pancakes, guliyappa (a Udupi dish), milkshakes and many other dishes,” she said. After the monsoon, Uma plans to produce banana flour on a commercial basis. “I am already getting a lot of enquiries. I actually dry the banana along with its peel as adds more fibre to our diet. For white-coloured flour, I add bananas without the peels," said Uma Prasanna.

He popularised the concept in other areas, too. “I got in touch with Central Processing facility at Kotegadde, near Thirthahalli, established by the Vanilla Growers’ Association in Karnataka. “I requested them to process banana flour and distribute it to the residents there. It has now become popular in Thirthahalli too," Shree Padre said.

He also added that Uma Subbaraya, Director at the National Research Centre for Banana in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu, sent a congratulatory note to Nayana on her initiative that led to a silent revolution.