Price of Jhalawar orange drops due to bumper crop; farmers rue losses
KOTA: Farmers cultivating Jhalawar oranges are facing the problem of plenty. Owning to higher production of Jhalawar oranges this season, prices of the oranges have gone down, thus bringing losses to the farmers.
“I am getting price (for the oranges) between Rs 9 and Rs 17 per kg this year, whereas last year the orange prices were between Rs 15 and Rs 35 per kg,” said Devendra Kumar, a farmer of Bane village in Jhalawar district. He produced more than 500 quintal oranges in one hectare this year, which was 100 quintal more than the oranges produced in one hectare last year.
Rajesh Gupta ‘Karawan’ of Karawan village also said that the production of Jhalawar orange was higher this year, but the prices are almost half in the current season. “While I was getting Rs 25 per kg last year, it is around Rs 12.5 per kg now,” he said.
There is a dedicated mandi (market) for Jhalawar oranges in Bhawanimandi region of Jhalawar district called Jhalawar Orange Mandi.
A commission agent at the mandi, Sharif Mansoori, said that orange traders from several states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh visit the Bhawanimandi region mandi to buy Jhalawar oranges. “Average price of Jhalawar oranges is presently ranges between Rs 10 and Rs 15 per kg, whereas the average price of oranges last year was Rs 25 per kg,” he said.
The mandi authorities admitted that the prices of Jhalawar oranges have gone down due to t he i ncreased production. “Orange price is less than last year; while the price was around Rs 8 to Rs 20 per kg last year, it is around Rs 15 per kg (this year),” said Phool Chand, the mandi secretary.
The mandi has been witnessing arrival of 4,000 quintal to 4,800 quintal of Jhalawar oranges daily, he said.
Commenting on the issue, assistant director, horticulture, Kailash Sharma said the prices of oranges are linked to the demand and supply mechanism. “Since the production is more than last year, the prices of oranges are low presently,” he added. “While the orange production was around 2.4 lakh metric tonne (MT) in 2019, the production this year is likely to be around 3.50 lakh MT,” Sharma said.
Giving reasons for higher production of the oranges, Sharma said that congenial climate, low losses due to black fly disease and adequate water availability has led to the bumper production of oranges.
The area under orange cultivation in Jhalawar this year was almost similar to last year, which was 36,000 hectare.
Rajesh Gupta said that many a time when the production of Jhalawar oranges remains high, farmers do not get due prices of their produce. He said agro-food processing units should be set up in the region to ensure due prices to farmers for their crops in the region.
It may be mentioned here that Jhalawar orange has emerged as a better product than Nagpur orange due to its sweetness, weight, thin peel and longer shelf life.