ONGOLE: The acid lime farmers from the Prakasam district are facing problems, over the low price offered by the exporters and commission agents with the cost of Rs 9 per kg. Earlier in the starting days of November, it was around Rs 50 to Rs 55 per kg but gradually decreased within a few days.
‘The low demand for acid limes is caused due to the recent rains, virus attack by damaging its quality and many other reasons which together made it difficult in facing financial troubles,” said Narapusetty Lakshmi Narasaiah, an acid lime wholesale merchant from Hanumanthuni Padu Mandal.
The lemon cultivation is mainly concentrated in Hanumanthuni (HM) Padu Mandal with around 3,000 acres along with the neighbouring Veligandla, Kanigiri, PC Palli, Mundlamuru, Darsi, Donakonda, Pamuru, Konakanamitla etc mandal limits. Nearly 1,200 lemon producers are engaged in acid lime cultivation in around 2,000 hectares in the above-mentioned mandal limits. Essentially, the farmers will get an average yield of 20 to 30 tonnes per acre, but this year it yielded around 40 to 50 tonnes due to the favourable atmospheric conditions.
“Usually in the peak season of March to August, we are getting average high prices with Rs 180 to 190 per kg and in the last seasonal days, we even got the highest rate of 210 per kg,” explained Narayana Reddy, an acid lime trader from Moravari Palli village near HM Padu market. But now, the prices dropped drastically to Rs 9 or Rs 10 per kg,” Narayana Reddy added.
“It became a problem for us every year for a long time as the acid lime market makes us stand on our toes. Government should announce a minimum support price or at least provide a cold storage facility here at the Kanigiri acid lime marketplace,” KVG Bhaskar, a farmer from HM Padu told The New Indian Express.