A kilogram of bananas is sold at 50 paise in Andhra Pradesh, cheaper than a matchbox, YSR Congress Party President and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Monday. Jagan Mohan Reddy took to X to highlight the plight of banana farmers in the state.
"Hello India, Look towards Andhra Pradesh! One kilogram of bananas is being sold for just Rs 0.50! Yes, you heard it right, fifty paise. This is the plight of banana farmers in AP. Cheaper than a matchbox, cheaper than a single biscuit. This is a cruel blow to farmers who invest lakhs of rupees and months of hard work, only to receive pain in return," he wrote.
"Not only bananas, from onions to tomatoes, no crop is receiving remunerative prices. Neither free crop insurance nor input subsidies during calamities, nor the promised cultivation support. Everything proved to be a farce," he added. Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed that during his YSRCP’s tenure, the price of bananas was maintained at an average of Rs 25,000 per tonne and special trains were arranged from the state to New Delhi to ensure farmers never incurred losses.
"That commitment saved thousands of families, and cold storages were constructed across the state to protect farmers from distress sales. But today, Chandrababu has abandoned farmers to their fate, watching silently as agriculture crumbles. If food is worth Rs 0.50 today, what is the value of the hands that grow it?" he said, attacking Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
The YSRCP chief posted photographs of the protest by banana farmers and the party leaders. Meanwhile, YSRCP Rajya Sabha member Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose has urged the Union Agriculture Ministry to intervene immediately and provide relief to banana farmers of Rayalaseema, stating that market failures are destroying the livelihoods of thousands of small and marginal farmers.
He appealed to the Centre to take urgent steps to protect farmers from ruin. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, he highlighted the alarming collapse of banana prices in the region, which has pushed farmers into deep distress. He said that despite record cultivation and high yields in recent seasons, the sudden crash in market prices has caused unprecedented losses.
In Pulivendula, one of the biggest banana-producing zones, prices fell sharply from Rs 22,000 per tonne to Rs 8,000 per tonne within a month, marking a 60 per cent collapse. Many farmers have been forced to throw away ripe fruit as they were unable to sell their produce.
Pointing to severe drought and erratic rainfall in the 2025 Kharif season, Bose noted that cultivation fell drastically to only 19 to 35 per cent of normal in districts such as YSR Kadapa, Kurnool, and Anantapur. He said the situation has devastated farmers who invested lakhs of rupees expecting a stable income.