Every Onam, the Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple in Kerala’s Thrissur district is flooded with kaazhchakkula (prosperity) offerings of huge ‘banana stems’ that bear shapely, golden yellow bananas. Invariably, the kaazhchakkulas are all the high-born, exclusively grown Chengalikodan nendran bananas. For, the Chengalikodan is said to be the favourite fruit of the deity Guruvayurappan. And now, the Chengalikodan has found a place on the Geographical Indications (GI) list. The GI tag, announced last week, has propelled the divine fruit to fame and fortune.

A sizeable chunk of the Chengalikodan, cultivated in a dozen villages in the Wadakkanchery-Kecheri river basin in Thrissur district, ends up as offerings at the feet of the deity, which gives the fruit its divine connotation. Named after its birthplace Changazhikode, the banana requires a lot of care and attention.

Special treatment Most farmers of the Chengalikodan, vow to offer one stem to Guruvayurappan each year. And that stem gets extra care right from its inception — the young bananas even get regular oil ‘massages’ so that they are well-shaped and their skin glows. Currently, a stem of the banana, with a dozen bunches, weighing 15-20 kg, commands a price of ₹2000-3000. And, the devotees don’t mind paying the price.

“The GI recognition has increased the demand for the Chengalikodan,” says Anup Kishore MR, president of the Peringandoor Service Cooperative Bank, which gives soft loans to the members of the Chengalikodan Banana Growers Association at Erumappetty. “We hope the tag helps farmers get a decent price, which will in turn encourage wider cultivation.” The banana demands extreme care, timely watering and adequate sunshine. Normally, only organic manures are used in its cultivation.

“We plan to turn the association into a farmers’ producer organisation and professionalise cultivation,” Kishore told BusinessLine . “We intend to make Chengalikodan farming totally organic.” No chemical pesticides would be used. The traditional, less-productive farming practices, such as the current method of harvesting only during the weeks ahead of Onam, would be updated. “We want Chengalikodan to be available round the year,” Kishore said. “We are in talks with the agricultural university people about adopting tissue culture.”

There was also a plan to export the fruit to the Gulf countries where Malayalees live. Kishore added that a number of value-added-product ideas were being worked out with technical support from the Agricultural Engineering College, Thavanoor. Baby foods and noodles with Chengalikodan as the main ingredient were some of value-additions on the anvil.

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