Why the price of lemons have shot up?

It is said, if

“life gives you lemons, make lemonade” but now the picture has changed, now it goes, when life gives you a lemon, don’t make lemonade. Store it in tijori!”

It’s common to hear that the prices of petrol and diesel have increased. India has also seen a huge jump in prices of onion, a few years back. But the abrupt rise in prices of lemons has raised eyebrows

From 40 rupees per kg to 400 rupees, the price of lemon has taken a long journey.

Let’s see what has been the main reason behind such a huge jump?

According to a survey, India produces around 3.17 lakh tonnes of lemons a year. The flowering and fruit cycles of lemon are divided into three types.

1. Ambe Bahar- in this, flowering on the lemon tree takes place in the month of January-February, and fruit is seen in April
2. Mrig bahar- During this cycle, in June-July the flowering takes place and the lemon gets prepared till the month of October
3. Hasta bahar- in this, the flowering takes place in the month of September-October and fruits in the month of march

So basically due to this cycle, lemons remain available in the market round the year. But due to storms, cyclones, and heavy rains in the month of September and October in the year 2021, the cycle of ambe and hasta got disrupted

Secondly, these crops are prone to moisture and heat, thus the excessive scorching summer heat in the month of February 2022, graved the situation more for the lemons. 

Apart from this, summer is known for its excessive heat and as in summer the demand for lemon juice and sharbat increases, the gap between demand and supply has widened which is also one of the main reasons behind such a great hike.

So, when will the rates get back to normal ??

As per the flowering pattern, we have to wait till September-October in case, India does not import lemons from other nations

India can focus on increasing cold storage, stress upon reduction in post-harvest loss, and diversion of such crops to agro-processing industries for increasing their shelf life can be the major steps be taken at present to normalize the inflation.