When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade! Well, now if life gives to lemon, you are certainly rich. Remember the time, when you used to get 5 to 8 lemons for Rs.10? Now, you will get just one. All this is because of the low supply of lemons in the market. And, the irony is that India produces around 17% of the world’s lemons. So, what happened? Let’s find out.

Climate Change is real!!

Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of lemon followed by the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Lemon is a temperature-sensitive plant that requires a moderately dry and moist climate. But, there were heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh and cyclones in Gujarat last year which destroyed the harvest. Also, the temperature rose to a record high in Feb and March which again prevented the lemon trees from flowering. This increased the price because of a supply shortage.

Burning Fuel Prices

Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the international prices of oil rose as Russia is the largest exporter of petroleum in the world. In response to this, the government hiked fuel prices by around Rs.10. This automatically increased food prices as transportation costs got increased. On top of that, the lemon-producing states levy heavier state taxes on petrol and diesel as compared to other states. This has induced a price hike race among all vegetables and lemon is pretty much winning this race.

Increase in Demand

It’s Summer time and in this scorching heat, Nimbu Paani is the obvious choice. Feels like not this summer! Many festivities are going on and Lemon is something that goes with every cultural significance. Funnily, it has become hard to protect Nimbu from Buri Nazaar as inflation has made it new gold.

Are prices going to correct anytime, soon?

The Supply chain of lemon got disrupted because of two consecutive harvest season failures. The next harvest season is around October. If the weather conditions stay normal, this Nimbuflation will end soon and prices will start correcting. But, food inflation is not going anywhere. Fuel Prices will still be burning the pockets by raising transportation costs of food.

Conclusion

Well, Climate change is hitting hard on our lifestyles. Petrol and Diesel prices will see a hike anyway because it is not a renewable energy source and will soon deplete. This food inflation could be controlled only when the transportation industry shifts to alternative energy sources and we as humans become more mindful of our choices towards nature.