Dynamics of banana research and development in India for farm profitability enhancement

India is the largest producer of banana in the world. The crop has great significance in enhancing farmers' income, besides providing nutrition to consumers. Total annual banana production in India is 29.2 million t from 0.84 million ha. The crop accounts for more than 35% share in total annual fruit production and contributes about 2.5% of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP) of the country. Productivity is high, if locally grown traditional cultivars are excluded and only area and production of Cavendish cultivars (about 45% of total area) is considered. A dramatic change in production volume of banana, from 7.7 million t in 1991 to about 30 million t currently, is attributed to technological changes and improvement in value-chain management. The government has provided focused attention and investment for research and development, considering the crop's socioeconomic importance in India, by establishing the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) and through programs of the National Horticulture Mission, which facilitate farmers to adopt banana cultivation with improved techniques. A major private player for banana research and development in the country is Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (JISL), Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India. It is the largest producer of tissue-cultured banana plants in the world, producing about 70 million tissue-cultured plants annually, certified free from diseases. They also provide technical support and equipment for fertigation to a network of 5 million farmers. Although India has provided leadership in production of banana, export has been limited due to the highly competitive export market. The focus of many companies in India has shifted toward the export of banana from the country. The paper presents various facets and milestones of innovations which have led to a transformation in banana production in India.