The orange season which provided a good harvest is nearing to an end. However, with a glut of oranges in the market, the prices crashed with farmers having to sell at as low as Rs. 20 a kg. A State procurement agency would have helped stabilise prices, feel farmers. There was no demand for the traditional variety grown by them which is smaller in size though sweeter and durable than the Nagpur orange.
Chandran, a fruit farmer at Guhanathapuram, said that he sells the oranges to traders who reach his farm. He has both the Nagpur and traditional varieties of oranges, but it is the Nagpur variety that is preferred. The maximum price he received was Rs. 30 per kg for the Nagpur orange.
The plant of the Nagpur variety requires only three years of growth for harvesting. Timely fertilizer and pesticide application is required. It is more productive and though the plant is dwarf, after eight years, it has to be replanted. The traditional variety is not economically viable though it can be harvested twice a year.
Chandran and his brother Dinakaran have traditional orange trees as old as 100 years. According to Dinakaran, the traditional varieties start bearing fruits only after eight years and they apply cow dung as fertilizer. He has reaped 50 kg of oranges from a single plant.
Manikandan, a farmer at Kaliyammankovil, said that farmers now prefer to grow the Nagpur variety. Many visitors to his farm ask for the organic variety. If there is a unit for making value added products from oranges in Idukki, even the traditional orange variety could command a price, he said.
