<p>It’s summer and the demand for the season’s most sought-after fruit is only rising as the mercury level heads northwards. </p>.<p>The rise in demand is followed by a steady increase in prices, much to the joy of the growers. But the quality has proved to be a casualty. </p>.<p>Vijayapura district, known as the lemon capital, is seeing four fruits of the larger size selling at Rs 20 and six fruits of the smaller size selling at Rs 40. </p>.<p>A 40-kg bag of 1,100 lemons is now selling at Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000, up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 in the previous years. </p>.<p>The APMC market in Vijayapura gets 2,500 to 3,000 such bags every Wednesday and Sunday, manager of the market Ramesh Gouda told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>This is a dip in supply as compared to previous years. </p>.<p>The quality of the lemon coming to the market is of sub-standard quality, say buyers. </p>.<p>“Inclement weather caused a reduction in the yield of the crop, to 10 tonnes per acre, besides affecting the quality,” Santosh Sappandi, manager of the Karnataka State Lemon Development Board, told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>It’s summer and the demand for the season’s most sought-after fruit is only rising as the mercury level heads northwards. </p>.<p>The rise in demand is followed by a steady increase in prices, much to the joy of the growers. But the quality has proved to be a casualty. </p>.<p>Vijayapura district, known as the lemon capital, is seeing four fruits of the larger size selling at Rs 20 and six fruits of the smaller size selling at Rs 40. </p>.<p>A 40-kg bag of 1,100 lemons is now selling at Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000, up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 in the previous years. </p>.<p>The APMC market in Vijayapura gets 2,500 to 3,000 such bags every Wednesday and Sunday, manager of the market Ramesh Gouda told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>This is a dip in supply as compared to previous years. </p>.<p>The quality of the lemon coming to the market is of sub-standard quality, say buyers. </p>.<p>“Inclement weather caused a reduction in the yield of the crop, to 10 tonnes per acre, besides affecting the quality,” Santosh Sappandi, manager of the Karnataka State Lemon Development Board, told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>