Nellore: Lemon farmers stare at 100 cr losses despite bountiful crop

Nellore: Now, no farmer in Gudur division is able to harvest the lemon crop and export the stock to the markets due to lockdown restrictions. Despite a bountiful crop, farmers and traders are stuck in their homes and counting their losses.

In fact, farmers and traders are a worried a lot because they are unable to explore markets outside the state and are completely relying on the local market which is not going to fetch them big profits.

Actually, the lemon trees achieve full bloom during November-December and harvesting is done after 4-5 months during April-May. Farmers and traders also wait up to the summer season for a good market. But, this time, they waited up to the end of March for exporting the crop. But the sudden announcement of lockdown and subsequent restrictions due to the spread of Covid cases, farmers and traders are confined to their homes and they are bound to lose around Rs 100 crore this year.

This season, lemon crop has been cultivated in 20,000-22,000 hectare and a major chunk of 10,000-12,000 hectare is located in the Gudur division alone. Gudur and Podalakur lemon markets are popular since a big chunk of production comes from the Gudur revenue division. "Now we are not able to market the lemon crop due to unfavourable market. The price per kilogram should be around Rs 40 in the market during this peak season but farmers are selling quality fruits at Rs 20 and others at Rs 10 or 11 per kg. We can get Rs 60-70 per kg in other markets in the country, but transporting them has become a difficult task. There are huge stocks of lemon fruits in the gardens and thus farmers face a loss of around Rs 100 crore," said Koduru Meera Reddy, a trader from Gudur.

He said a farmer gets 8-10 tonne lemons from an acre during the peak season and they are leaving the fruits on the trees itself where they are getting ripened and wasted as they cannot store them. He lamented that farmers will not be able to recover even their investment this year.

He also added that the good price of an 80 kg bag is pegged at Rs 1,500 or 1,600. They are not sure about the situation turning better in the days to come due to rise in Covid cases. Gudur division also registered four cases recently and the officials are restricting the movement of people.

Summing up the bleak scenario, a farmer N Venkata Ramana from Sydapuram said that they cannot transport the stocks even from their place to Gudur. Adding to our woes, the officials have been prohibiting gathering of workers for collecting of lemons, packing and shifting to the market. Hence, our difficulties are mounting day by day.