Sri Vijaya Puram, Feb. 3: The High Value Agriculture Development Agency (HVADA), Directorate of Agriculture deputed 19 farmers/ Self Help Groups from South Andaman, Rangat, Mayabunder and Diglipur Zones along with two departmental officials for a six-day training programme on ‘Post-Harvest Management and Value Addition of Banana’ at the ICAR–National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy, Tamil Nadu from 26th to 31st January, 2026, with the aim to strengthen post-harvest management practices, reduce losses, and enhance farmers’ income through value addition and entrepreneurship.
The training programme comprised a combination of theoretical lectures and hands-on practical sessions covering scientific banana cultivation, post-harvest handling, quality control, food safety, packaging and branding, nutritional aspects, disease-free varieties. Hands-on training was provided on preparation of banana central core stem juice, banana flower pickle, dehydrated banana products, banana flour, health mix, baby food, and low-fat banana chips, which generated keen interest among the farmers. In addition, exposure visits to a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) and a Self-Help Group (SHG) at Thottiyam enlightened participants with valuable insights into banana processing, enterprise development and sustainable livelihood models.
During the valedictory session, the participants were supplied with saplings of improved banana varieties namely Red banana, Kaveri Poovan and Kaveri Kanchan and expressed confidence in adopting and disseminating the technologies in the islands. The skill-based training programme shall promote banana-based value addition and enhance income generation opportunities in the Islands.