Lemon prices have soared to Rs 100 a kg in the national capital’s retail market due to supply crunch, which spells bad news ahead of the gruelling summer.

Used primarily for its juice in culinary and non-culinary applications, lemon prices have doubled to Rs 80-100 a kg in the retail market over the past one week, traders said.

They attributed the jump in cost to an over 25 per cent drop in supply from the major producing state of Andhra Pradesh.

Against the normal arrival of 15-20 trucks of lemons (each carrying about 15 tonnes), only 10 trucks are currently coming to the Azadpur market (Asia’s biggest fruits and vegetables market), the Lemon Traders’ Association President, Mr Tilak Rajm, told PTI.

The citric produce, having tremendous medicinal potential, is selling in the Azadpur wholesale market at Rs 40-60 per kg, he said.

The Lemon Association’s General Secretary, Mr Shyam Sundar Vohra, said excessive rains in Andhra Pradesh in the past three months have damaged almost 50 per cent of the crop there.

Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra, Assam and Rajasthan are the other leading producers of the crop.

India is the leading producer of lemon in the world, accounting for about 16 per cent of international production. It is followed by Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Spain.

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