Palakkad: The price of `nendran’ bananas is soaring as the banana cultivation faces adversity due to summer and rains. The nendran bananas which only fetched Rs 30 per kg a month ago, have now reached Rs 60-65. This is due to low local production and low inflows from the neighbouring states.

According to the initial estimates of the agricultural department, the summer which recorded a heatwave and the rainfall that ensued caused a widespread destruction of plantain. From February to May, 1,425 hectares of banana plantation worth Rs 57.98 crore was destroyed during the summer season.