Firoz Rozindar

Vijayapura: After facing hardship for two years due to falling prices in the market, the lime growers have finally got smiles on their faces as they are being awarded bumper prices for the lime fruit this season.

Chandrashekar Biradar, a lime grower from Indi, pointed out that, "The lime growers had two consecutive disappointing seasons due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The price for the lime crop had fallen dramatically since the pandemic hit the nation. Even the demand for the crop was less, which affected trading and loss for farmers."

"The market has returned to normalcy after the second wave.  This season lime growers have got not only good yield but also an overwhelming price for the citric fruit. This has brought huge relief to the lime growers. I have sold the lime at a good price this season," detailed lime grower Biradar.

As per the officials of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), "This season a bag of good quality lime, which contains 1,000 lemons, is being marketed anywhere between Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,500. This is the highest price a bag of lime has got in the last three years. The average quality of lime is priced at around Rs 4,000. For lime growers 'summer' is the peak season in the market."

The same quantity of lime was being sold between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 during the pandemic.  

 Saleem R Sagar, the proprietor of Sagar Agri Tech, who are lime traders, said that, "Though lime has a good price but the quantity is less in the market. The market is recovering slowly and the citric fruit is being transported to most of the states. The demand is high but the supply is low in the market."

 "The next three weeks lime will get good prices at the wholesale market because of summer and the ongoing Ramzan festival. The retail market price will also see record prices this season. Importantly this season only Karnataka has good production whereas Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have reported very less production," elaborated trader Saleem.

Vijayapura district is the highest producer of lime in the state. The lime plantation has spread in Indi, Chadachan, Almel, Sindagi and Basavana Bagewadi talukas in the region. The lime grown here is being exported to middle-east countries and Nepal. 

 With an aim to develop lime and its growers and provide a proper marketing platform the state government has established Karnataka State Lime Development Board. However, the state government failed to announce any grants in the recently presented budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.