Mist dampens sales of watermelons

The fruit is being sold for ₹8 to ₹12 a kg, say traders at the Koyambedu market

Watermelons have started arriving in the Koyambedu wholesale market, ahead of the summer. But traders say the sales were dull as there were not many takers.

Loads of various varieties of watermelons such as Namdhari, Kiran, Vishal and Mithila (the ones with yellow pulp) are now sold at the wholesale market and the merchants expect sales to pick up only in March.

V.S. Vadivazhagan, a Koyambedu fruit commission agent, said watermelons begin to flood the market by mid-February and rain led to delay in arrivals this year. The wholesale market has been receiving 10-15 lorry loads of watermelons daily in the past few days and one kg of the fruit was sold for ₹8 to ₹12.

The sales have dipped as many customers hesitate to buy watermelons due to misty weather in the city. Several people preferred to taste hybrid varieties in the retail stores. Muskmelon, another summer fruit, has also started arriving in the market and is priced at ₹15 to ₹20 a kg in the wholesale shops.

Wholesale fruit merchants said the demand for most of the fruits has dropped by 30% to 40%. S. Srinivasan, an office-bearer of the Chennai Koyambedu Fruits’ Commission Agents Association, said Nagpur oranges or ‘kamala’ oranges were in demand due to low arrivals. One kg of orange costs between ₹45 to ₹60 in the wholesale market and sold for a price up to ₹90 a kg in retail.

The price of most other fruits, including grapes, remains stable. Sweet limes that mainly arrive from Andhra Pradesh cost ₹40 to ₹52 a kg in the wholesale market. “Consumers are purchasing in less quantity. We expect sales to improve during peak summer when there will be more demand for fruit juices,” he added.