Shishir.AryaNagpur: The drought has shrunk the famed Nagpur orange, say farmers and experts. Not only has the yield fallen, but the fruit’s size too has reduced due to dry spells. However, the worst is yet to come when the summer crop arrives. There are two seasons for the orange crop — Ambiya and Mrig. The former reaches the market in October and the latter between February and March. Even as the Ambiya crop has been salvaged to some extent, there are fears Mrig may dry up as the water crisis would deepen by harvest time. A marked undergrowth is seen in the Mrig fruits that are now in growing stage.For Ambiya, the dry run has led to fruits falling off from orchards, triggering a straight cut in the yield and losses are estimated between 30% to 50% in some pockets, said sources. At the same time, lack of water has shrunk the oranges, said farmers. Officials in the state’s agriculture department also acknowledged the farmers’ claims. The losses cannot be ruled out, said the joint director (agriculture) Umesh Ghatge.“The standard size of Ambiya oranges has come down. As against the standard 70mm girth for the Nagpur mandarin, it has shrunk to 60 mm,” said Manoj Jawanjal, director of Mahaorange, a state govt agency that works on promoting the fruit. By this time the Mrig fruits are expected to grow to the size of an amla (Indian gooseberry) but have not attained the size yet, said Jawanjal. “At around 35kg, rates of Ambiya are same as last year but the output is down,” he says.At Kalamana, dubbed Asia’s largest agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC) yard, the slump in arrivals corroborates farmers’ claims.Rajesh Chabrani, a former director of APMC and fruit trader, says the season has just begun. Even in the initial days, normally 150 to 200 trucks of oranges reached the Kalamana market. Now, it has come down to mere 50 this year, he says. The spacious sheds which once held heaps of oranges and sweat lime brought by farmers were largely empty.Chabrani also attributed the fall in arrivals to growers directly selling their fruit from orchards. Direct selling has taken away a large slice of business at AMPCs, he says. However, Chabrani accepted the average size of the fruits — oranges and (mosambi) sweet lime — has shrunk.Jawed Khan, a trader at Warud said, even as Ambiya would still be available, farmers who are banking on Mrig may suffer deep losses. The crop depends on irrigation and water is scarce this time.
