An orange farmer’s heartbreaking choice: Lose the fruit or lose the tree

In Jalna’s Ambad taluka, sweet lime trees bear wrinkled green fruit barely the size of lemons. Some have turned brown, sun-scorched skeletons, while ripe fruit are scattered on the ground. In Vidarbha’s Linga village in Amravati district, orange growers are plucking immature fruit in the hope of saving their trees.

In Linga, orange grower Shivhari Hadke is removing oranges barely the size of an Indian Gooseberry (amla) from his nearly 2-acre orchard of 18-year-old trees. With fruit-bearing trees requiring frequent irrigation, he hopes that removing the immature crop will reduce their water needs and help the remaining trees survive.

Of the nearly 250 trees in his orchard, 10 have already dried up. His younger brother has lost 70 trees. Some of Hadke’s trees had withered last year, too. The family has also been dealing with damage caused by animals scratching the bark, further weakening the trees.

In Marathwada, successive droughts and pest attacks have steadily reduced sweet lime production in parts of Jalna. Rohilagad, Ambad and Ghansawangi in Jalna, along with Georai in Beed and Paithan in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, were once known for their sweet lime orchards.

Repeated crop losses have since driven many farmers out of fruit cultivation. Takle’s father began planting sweet lime on their land in 1998 and harvested over 2,500 fruits every year. With no local market at the time, he would sell the produce in Nagpur.

But droughts in 2012 and 2014, followed by pest attacks, dealt a severe blow to orchards in the region. Sweet lime is available in limited quantities in local markets at Rs 35 per kg. The state may have to depend on supplies from other states, including Andhra Pradesh, this year.

Jagdish Deshmukh, a farmer from Ambad who earned lakhs from pomegranate cultivation in 2023, says the lack of rain has turned this year into a season of losses. Scientists at ICAR Central Citrus Research Institute (ICAR-CCRI), Nagpur, warn that adverse weather could cause substantial losses in both the Ambia and Mrig flowering cycles of citrus cultivation.

The impact is visible in fruit size and tree survival. “When water is scarce, the plant uses the available moisture primarily for survival rather than transferring it to the fruits. As a result, fruit size has reduced. Plant mortality has also been reported,” he said.

Institute director N G Patil said state departments were assessing the full extent of damage. “People often look at the total rain and assume the situation is not bad. But rain distribution matters. Rain at the wrong stage of the crop cycle may not benefit farmers.

Agricultural drought and hydrological drought are also different.” Poor colour development can further depress market prices, while prolonged moisture stress weakens trees and leaves them vulnerable to pests and diseases.

Trees that have dried beyond the stage of permanent wilting may not recover. Farmers may have to uproot and replant them, and a new orchard takes around four years to yield its first harvest. For growers in both regions, the damage is not limited to one failed harvest.

It means losing years of investment and facing the cost and wait involved in rebuilding an orchard. As Deshmukh puts it, “This year, the lack of rain has meant only losses for farmers.” Ankita Deshkar is a Deputy Copy Editor and a dedicated fac...

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