Despite high demand at retail markets wher it is selling for good prices, lemon growers are failing to sell the produce at profitable rates due to a dro in the number of interested buyers at Bhimruli wholesale market in Jhalakathi Sadar.

The outbreak of novel coronavirus pandemic is the apparent cause for the situation, said local lemon growers and wholesalers. Most of the lemon gardens in the area belong to women entrepreneurs and they depend on the earnings from sales of the fruit. The unexpected fall in prices this year has come as a terrible blow to their livelihood.

Hundreds of lemon farmers in Jhalakathi are now worried whether they would be able to survive after incurring such losses during the ongoing lemon harvest season. According to Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Jhalakathi, lemon has been cultivated on 236 hectares of land in the district.

Fazlul Haque, deputy director of DAE in Jhalakathi, said rich in vitamins, different varieties of tasty lemons of Jhalakathi region are available all year round. But its peak harvest season starts in July and remains till September. It is high in demand in the cities, but its demand at local wholesale markets fell as only a few wholesalers are coming to local wholesale markets lately, he added.