Summer season has begun and as always, there is a huge demand for seasonal fruits, especially lemons and mangoes. But, the farmers producing these fruits are facing a crisis due to the unseasonal rainfall. The situation is similar to that of a coin — on one side, the district has been receiving good rainfall, and on the other, the farmers are facing a loss due to the change in weather.
In the Tirunelveli district, lemon is cultivated on 271 hectares and mango is cultivated on 1,263 hectares by the farmers. From the end of March to mid-April, the Tirunelveli district witnessed a good spell of rainfall, which is the season for mango flowers to bear fruits. However, the continuous rainfall days have led the flowers to wither. Similarly, lemon cultivation was also affected during this period of time.
Farmers usually target the summer of April and May to sell the fruits. However, this year, after two years of loss due to the pandemic, they are facing losses again as the production of fruits has gone down again.
Mango farmers are facing depletion as they were unable to produce ripened fruits and the unripe fruit is now sold at a low price of `20 per kilogram. However, the ripened fruits are sold at nearly `150 per kilogram and more, according to the demand.
A farmer, S Kumarasamy (60) of Manimuthar said, “We produced two lorries full of mangoes during the pandemic, and this year, we were unable to even fill one lorry of both varieties. After the rain, the flowers withered and now new flowers are blooming. This is a huge loss for our investment.”
Explaining about lemons, he further said, lemon farming is different. “After the pandemic, the lemon cultivators were able to sell the produce before the rainfall at a high price. However, now, the flowers have withered due to the rains, and it will take some time for them to ripen,” Kumarasamy added.
Another farmer, seeking anonymity, said, "A lemon that is usually sold at `10 per kilogram or less during summer is now being sold at `15 and more. Many buy a kilogram of lemon at the cost of `250 - `300 per kilogram due to the demand during the summer. Despite the weather affecting the fruit-bearing, the less number of fruits has provided a lot of benefits to the farmers.”
When contacted, senior horticulture officials told TNIE that the mango farmers faced a loss because of the weather but due to demand, the lemon farmers are able to make a profit this summer.