Farmers in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts are seeing a bumper production of kinnow fruit. These districts have earlier exported the fruit to Bangladesh and other countries, and now farmers are being approached by middlemen to send their produce to processing units in neighbouring states and other parts of the country.
The farmers say that absence of food processing units in the region has compelled them to send their crop outside the state, even though they are not getting a good price for it. According to an estimate, about 4.25 lakh metric tonne production of kinnow is expected in Sriganganagar and nearly 1 lakh metric tonne in Hanumangarh this season. "It is a bumper crop this year. The last time production was so good was in the year 2019," said an officer of the horticulture department.
Punjab situation
Growers in Punjab are worried over the drop in prices in the ongoing season and have demanded State intervention; many fear that they won’t be able to recover input cost
Poor demand, abundant production, and early plucking of the produce this winter have left growers of kinnow, a citrus mandarin fruit in Punjab, grappling for a fair price for their season’s harvest.
Kinnow production is likely to see a jump from last year’s 1.2 mln tons to 1.35 mln tons this season in Punjab. Growers in the State are worried over the drop in kinnow price in the ongoing season compared to last year. At the same time, the officials are optimistic of kinnows fetching a better price in the coming days following a dip in temperature in the region, which would enhance quality of the fruit.
Source: thehindu.com