Kinnow growers in Punjab face low prices amid high yield

Cultivators of kinnow in Punjab are a hapless lot. They are harvesting a bumper yield, which has led to a sharp fall in prices of the juicy citrus fruits, much to their discomfort. Farmers are getting Rs 6-10 per kg for their kinnow crop, a steep decline as compared to Rs 20-25 per kg they got last year. At the current rate, they are not able to recover their input cost.

After two years of low yield because of unexpected high temperatures during the flowering stage of the crop, Punjab is set to achieve a bumper crop this season. Punjab, a major grower of kinnow in the country, is expected to achieve an output of 13.50 lakh metric tonne this season, as against 12 lakh MT in the last season. A total area of 47,000 hectares were brought under the kinnow crop this season.

Harvesting of kinnow - a hybrid between king and willow leaf mandarins - starts in December and goes on till February-end in Punjab. Abohar is the leading district in Punjab with a maximum area of 35,000 hectares under the kinnow crop. It is also grown in Hoshiarpur, Muktsar, Bathinda and some other districts.

There is no buyer for even top quality kinnow. Usually, buyers from Pathankot, Delhi, Ludhiana and other places come this time of the year to purchase the crop. Farmers have blamed some traders who have created a cartel not to give remunerative rates to growers.

Some farmers this season harvested the crop early. But as the fruits were not fully matured, these did not develop the usual sweetness. It was one of the factors that led to reduction in demand for the fruit crop. Farmers spend Rs 30,000-40,000 per acre on the kinnow crop, but they might be compelled to uproot their orchards if they get such a raw deal, rued some of them.

They have urged the government to fix a minimum price for the fruit crop, which is being sold at Rs 40 per kg in the retail market.