This story is from March 7, 2021

Unseasonal rains make oranges as costly as apples, Rs150-200 a doz

Unseasonal rains make oranges as costly as apples, Rs150-200 a doz
Fruit vendors are selling a dozen oranges for 150-200, which is as much as a kg of apples or even more.
Nagpur: Apples can now be compared to oranges. A poor mrig crop of oranges that arrives in February-March has made the juicy Nagpur mandarin as costly as an apple these days. Fruit vendors are selling a dozen oranges for Rs150-200, which is as much as a kg of apples or even more.
Orange crop is taken twice a year. The first ambiya bahar comes from October onwards, followed by mrig bahar in February.
If the ambiya season was marred by a glut taking prices to rock bottom, the output has ebbed in the mrig season.
This has led to rates touching Rs30,000 to 45,000 a tonne in bulk market itself. In some cases it is even Rs50,000 said farmers. This ultimately takes the price to Rs150 a dozen and upwards at the local fruit shop.
Farmers compare it to a crisis of 2006-2007, when there were massive losses of the mrig crop and the government had announced a compensation of Rs50,000 a hectare.
“The rates are good and some farmer who could manage a decent harvest are profiting. But a large majority of orchards have no or little mrig crop. They are in deep losses,” said Manoj Jawanjal, a director of Mahaorange, the state government promoted orange marketing company.
The crop has reduced due to unseasonal rains. “Farmers starve the trees by not watering them during summer months. This leads to better flowering growth as a natural process. This finally develops as the fruit in the mrig season. However, bouts of rain in between disturbed the balance, affecting the February crop,” explained Amitabh Pawde, who has an orchard in Narkhed, the orange belt.

Rajesh Chabrani, a bulk trader at Kalamna Agriculture Marketing Produce Committee (APMC) yard, said the crop is hardly 20% of the previous season. This has taken the rates to Rs45,000 a tonne. In previous mrig season, it was not more than Rs15,000, he said.
“We had taken the mrig crop in 300 trees, which is hardly 20% of normal times. There was a glut during ambiya season and we had to sell at even Rs5 to 7 a kg in the wholesale market,” said Ajay Pawde, who has an orchard in Katol.
Farmers say despite the bumper crop in ambiya, the rates were not enough to recover the expenses. Now, a low crop means they are staring at losses for the season.
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