High price of limes pleases farmers and sellers alike

April 2, 2009

HURFOM, Ye Township:
The high price of limes has pleased many growers and wholesalers around Ye Township. Whilst other products such as rubber and betel nuts have dropped in price, limes have risen to between 70 and 120 Kyat per fruit.

Wholesalers buying limes from Ye Chaung Pya and Kalein Aung Sub-township are paying 120 Kyat for the highest quality fruit, 90 Kyat for medium quality and 70 Kyat for the lowest. These are then selling for up to 300 Kyat in Yangon, meaning both growers and sellers are profiting.

Daw Nit, a grower from Khaung Ywar village, said,” Since I started growing limes I’ve never known such high prices. I’m very happy because of this and I can only hope we always get prices like this year’s.”

Last year limes were fetching just 50 Kyat per fruit, less than 50% of this year’s highest price, so many growers did not consider lime cultivation worthwhile. Rubber and betel nut prices were higher, as in previous years, and so growers concentrated on these products.

Cultivating lime is time-consuming: the base of the trees must be kept clear, they need a lot of water and fertilizer and generally require more maintenance than other crops.

Some farmers use cuttings to grow their trees which produce fruit within a few years but the trees have a shorter life-span, whereas those grown from seed take more time to produce fruit but do so for much longer.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News