Nellore: With famine conditions prevailing in the district and dwindling water reserves in Kandaleru dam, lemon growers are a worried lot as the trees have started withering. In addition to this, the market rate is also at its lowest for lemon, which is grown in more than 10,000 acres in Gudur, Manu-bolu, Venkatachalam, Chi-llakur, Balayapalli, Dakk-ili, Rapur, Saidapuram, Podalakur and Venkata-giri mandals of SPSR Nellore district.
The growers are also in a fix as they are unable to recover even transport costs because of steep drop in the market price. According to a farmer, Dayakar Reddy of Rapur, their efforts to overcome the water problem by grounding borewells did not yield any results because of sharp drop in groundwater levels. He said some of them have been transporting water to protect the trees and blamed the horticulture department for turning a blind eye to their problems. He demanded that the department take steps to transport water through tankers to save the trees.
Referring to their struggle to protect the trees for nearly four years after planting for yields, he said their investment and the toil is going waste as the trees are withering fast without any sign of life. He said the market rate was encouraging during April and May this year, but it dropped drastically now. He added that they have stopped harvesting lemon since they are not even getting '10 for 100 lemon fruits in the market.
According to a grower, Vinay, they used to sell one bag of lemons for Rs 3,000 to even Rs 6,000 in the past, but the rate now is not even Rs 300 for bag. In fact, the grading, packing and transport process cost nearly Rs 500 to the growers for each bag but the returns are no match to the expenditure involved. He said the largest lemon market in Gudur has been losing its sheen because of lack of minimum support price and the growers are also looking for alternate crops in view of market rate and water problems.
