Mysuru: A 16-feet soaring single banana fruit bunch with more than 1,000 fruits in multiple clusters is quite rare. This unique fruit, known as the ‘1,000-finger banana,’ is the highlight of the three-day Banana Festival, which opened at Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry on Vinoba Road in the city this morning.

This variety, also known as ‘pisang seribu’ in Malay or ‘ayiram poovan’ locally in Kerala, bears up to 1,000 small, 1.5-2-inch fruits and is the prized possession of Abaneesh from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, one of the participants at the festival. He is the son of Vinod Sahadevan Nair, known for conserving many local and exotic varieties of bananas.

Organised by Sahaja Samrudha in collaboration with Akshaya Kalpa Organics, the festival celebrates the diversity of native bananas. It showcases 130 banana varieties, along with value-added products, banana fibre crafts and banana-based cuisines which are on sale and display at the venue.

Film Director Sumana Kittur, who inaugurated the Banana Festival, noted that bananas were once grown extensively in Periyapatna region but regretted that farmers in the area have switched to tobacco cultivation, which she hopes will change.

Manjunath Angadi, Deputy Director of Horticulture Department, praised Sahaja Samrudha for organising this festival for the fifth time in Mysuru. He highlighted that seven lakh metric tonnes of bananas are grown in 20,000 hectares of land in Mysuru district, attributing this success to various Central Government schemes that assisted farmers in cultivating bananas in the district.

Other banana varieties showcased at the festival include Nanjangud Rasabale, Elakki Bale, Sirumalai, Cocous, Nendra Kalli, Poongalli, Namwa Khom, Attu Kadali, Chingan, Aatu Kombu, Chinna Karpooram, Vananthpuri, Yangambi, Jaripuya, Motta Poovan, Malai Kalli, Ladan, Kuthirai Vaal Chingan, Veli Padathi, Ney Vazhai, Dudsagar Padathi, Chepurulu Bontha, Karim Kadali, Krishna Vazha, Pacha Bontha Batheesa, Ashy Batheesa and Lacattan among others.

Banana payasam made from 12 types of bananas is being sold at Rs. 40 per glass. Various banana saplings are also put up for sale, and even coconut saplings are available at the venue.

Vinod Sahadevan Nair, who conserves 550 banana varieties, Prasad Ram Hegde from Sirsi, who conserves 130 banana varieties and Senthilkumar Muthuswamy from Erode in Tamil Nadu, who conserves 100 banana varieties, are providing information on banana cultivation to farmers.

Dr. B.N. Jnanesh, Head of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – JSS Agricultural Science Centre, Suttur, Manjappa Honnappanavar from the Research and Development Division of Akshaya Organics, Rathna Rajaiah, a food expert and writer and G. Krishna Prasad, Director of Sahaja Samrudha, were also present.

Today, BAKAHU Millet Adda and Abhay Natural Food Processing Unit conducted a training session on banana value addition, featuring the experiences of Naveen Kumar from Hunsur and Varsha from Chamarajanagar.

Tomorrow, Nov. 24 at 10:30 am, the JSS Agricultural Science Centre in Suttur will host a children’s art competition, followed by a banana cooking contest at noon. Participants can prepare any dish using banana fruit, raw banana, stem or flowers at home and bring it to the fair. Interested participants can register by calling Mob: 94821-15495.