Chandigarh, January 8: Kinnow is particularly popular among people from Northern India. They costs around Rs 20 to 22 (€0.26-0.29) per kg. Since the last few years, e-sales have increased the sales of the northern India fruit to southern and eastern states.
Kinnow farmers of Punjab mostly sell their produce to pre-harvest contractors or in local mandis through various intermediaries, and rarely receive the fair price. They are forced to sell locally because they don’t have access to various markets. Besides that, the biggest risk for them is not getting payment back if they try to sell the produce to distant markets. There is also lack of transparency in sales.
NCDEX e-Markets Limited (NeML) and Punjab Agro have identified buyers and wholesalers in all major destination markets through whom the kinnow shall be sold. Punjab Agro facilitates the farmers by providing sorting, grading, waxing and transportation of the fruit to the destined station, while NeML is offering software solution and other marketing facilities, including fair price discovery.
Small and marginal kinnow farmers of Punjab are accessing southern and eastern markets of the country and getting good prices for their produce, compared to the local market. Coming to the aid of the farmers, Punjab Agro has tied up with NeML, an NCDEX group company.
According to krishijagran.com, state farmers have already sent around 1,000 tonnes of the fruit to different destination such as Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Siliguri and Guwahati. The export to other cities started in mid-December. Farmers are getting a premium of Rs 4-6 per kg compared to the local market.
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