Orange growers and exporters in Maharashtra are in a tight spot as Bangladesh, the biggest importer of the citrus fruit from the State, has increased import duty to ₹63 a kg this year from ₹20 per kg imposed three years ago. Orange growers in Vidarbha have urged the Centre to hike import duties on items imported from Bangladesh to ensure that the neighbouring country withdraws the hike on orange import duty. 

About 1.50 lakh hectares of land in the State are under orange orchids and a majority of these are in the Nagpur and Amravati regions in Vidarbha. The estimated orange production in Maharashtra is about 5 lakh tonnes of which about 1 lakh tonnes are exported to Bangladesh every year. 

As per the information provided by State officials, about 200 trucks each carrying 25 tonnes of oranges are exported daily to Bangladesh during the peak season.

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“The average rate of orange per tonne is ₹32,000 to ₹35,000 because of the export in Bangladesh. However, rates have fallen down to ₹18,000–23,000 because of poor exports. The rates might still come down and the Government must intervene. All orange processing projects announced have remained on the papers and farmers are dumping oranges in the open as they can’t even afford to take oranges to the local market because of falling rates,” said one of the State officials who is in Nagpur for the winter session of the State Assembly.   

Farmers said many of them are facing a major financial crisis as they are not even able to cover the production cost this year. Local MLA Devendra Bhuyar said he has requested the Centre to take up the issues with the Bangladesh Government. 

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