Every banana bunch grows on a stem that will never fruit again. Once the bunch is cut, the stem has done its job. What happens next is where Banraw comes in.
One bunch per stem
The part of the banana plant that looks like a trunk is called the pseudostem. It is made of tightly packed leaf sheaths, not wood. Each pseudostem produces a single bunch. After harvest, farmers cut it down so that new shoots from the same root can grow and fruit next.
A lot of material left in the field
A pseudostem is large and heavy, and most of its weight is water and fibre. On a working farm, cut stems pile up after every harvest. Moving them takes time and labour, so they are often left in the field to rot or are burned to clear space.
Leaving them to rot can harbour pests and diseases. Burning releases smoke and loses a useful material.
Turning stems into a growing medium
India grows a large share of the world's bananas, which means a steady supply of stems throughout the year. Banraw collects stems from partner farms around Erode, Tamil Nadu, and takes them to our manufacturing unit.
There, the stems are shredded, dried and graded into a clean, fibrous material. It is then pressed into blocks, discs, slabs and grow bags as Banraw Peat, a growing medium for greenhouses, nurseries and home growers.
Why it matters
- Farmers get value from a material they would otherwise have to clear away.
- Fewer stems are burned or left to rot in the field.
- Growers get a renewable alternative to peat moss.
Every block of Banraw Peat starts as a stem that has already given its fruit.
See how much banana stem waste India produces, state by state, on our interactive map.
