The season for Indian pomegranates has come to an end. The season wasn’t ideal because of pre-monsoon rainfall, which, along with other factors, resulted in lower sizes. Pesticides had to be employed to protect the crops, which lowered the overall number of residue-free pomegranates.
Overall, the last few months of Indian pomegranate season have not been ideal. The weather, according to Amit Kalya, managing director of Kalya Exports, had a role in the lower success: “The pomegranate season in India is now finished.” It started slowly, was rather average overall, but not the best. We had to contend with pre-monsoon showers, which had an impact on the fruit. Furthermore, because of the unfavourable climatic conditions, the fruits were unable to mature to their full size. The primary problems we experienced during the season were the decreased fruit size and lesser residue-free fruit availability.”
According to Kalya, the introduction of Egyptian pomegranates in the market has reduced demand for the remaining Indian pomegranates. “We conducted a few shipments to South Asian markets, but we are not exporting any fruit right now because the Indian pomegranate season is almost over.” Egyptian pomegranates have begun to be accessible on the market, implying that there is currently less demand for Indian pomegranates. We anticipate a surge in demand in early October. We also expect nice fruit to be available in the second half of the season in October to make up for the poor performance in the first half.”
Dealing with pre-monsoon rains necessitated the application of more pesticides than normal, according to Kalya: “The weather has damaged the pomegranates primarily during the early development of the fruit, and it has a detrimental effect on both the fruit size and skin.” The size of the fruit is affected by pre-monsoon rain, which eventually impacts the availability of fruit weighing 250 grams or more. Some insecticides had to be applied to protect the crop from post-unseasonal rain concerns, which decreased the total quantity of residue-free fruit available this year.”
According to Kalya, rising shipping prices by sea would make exporting product to some markets more difficult in the future: “The Indian pomegranate is recognised for its distinctive colour and taste, which draws consumers from Asia, Europe, and North American markets.” The arils have a deep crimson colour and very delicious. When compared to other origins, it has soft and smaller seeds. Every season, the sweet with a hint of sour becomes increasingly popular. The only significant difficulty is transporting the goods to consumers via sea freight, since prices have risen by about 300-400 percent compared to the average cost of previous years, making it extremely difficult to export the fruit in forthcoming seasons.”
Because the firm is more cautious with big volume shipments, the higher transportation prices have an impact on the planning for the forthcoming pomegranate crop. “The covid-19 pandemic situation has much improved, and there are no logistical problems in that regard; nevertheless, a lack of containers and higher sea freight prices to all destination seaports have significantly reduced the total number of containers delivered. Given the present situation, we expect maritime freight to skyrocket even more, therefore we are hesitant to plan large-volume shipments in the second half of the season.” Kalya came to a conclusion.