A GEO-ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY ON CULTIVATION, PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF BANANA IN GOALPARA DISTRICT OF ASSAM, INDIA

Goalpara district covering an area of 1,824sq.km.in the western part of south bank of the Brahmaputra in Assam extends between 25^o 54^/N to 26^o 17^/N latitude and 90^o3^/E to 91^o6^/E longitude. The district along with its surrounding areas basically the south central parts are very suitable for the cultivation of banana one of the important fruit crop of the district. The district is not only rich in the cultivation and production of banana but also it has some big collecting centers mainly at Daranggiri, Dhupdhara, Rongjuli, Dudhnoi, etc. The century-old Daranggiri banana market in Goalpara district has now reached the peak of selling with rank first as the largest banana market in Asia. Bananas from Daraggiri are being supplied to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and many other places of India and abroad. The present paper is a modest attempt to analyse the geo-environmental characteristics of Cultivation, Production and Marketing of Banana in Goalpara District of Assam.