MAHBUBNAGAR: Once famous across the country for its custard apples, Mahbubnagar district is now facing a dearth of the fruit.

The primary reason for the fall in fruit production has been conversion of land for real estate ventures in Amangal, Balanagar, Jedcherala, Shadnagar and Kadthal areas, where custard apple trees grow naturally in about 6,000 acres. Poor rainfall in the district has further affected the production, resulting in a steep increase in prices. Each custard apple is now being sold for Rs 40 to Rs 60 in the retail market.

Traditionally, there has been no organized farming of custard apples, popularly known as sitaphal. The fruit is plucked from naturally-growing trees either by farm labourers who are out of work at the end of the kharif season or the tribals combing through forest areas. Most of the fruits are harvested in September and October.

However, there has been a steep fall in the arrivals of sitaphal at the Shadnagar market, from where three to four lorry loads were generally sent to Delhi, Nagpur, Kolkata and Mumbai. Narsamma, a farm hand from Soilpur village, told TOI, “We could earn as much as Rs 2,000 for an entire day’s work collecting the fruit and brining about 15 to 20 basket loads each trip. This year, we have so far managed to get just about two basket loads of the fruit each trip. I am earning between Rs 150 to Rs 200 for all this effort.”

Sridhar, a commission agent at the Shadnagar market, said he is barely able to fill up a mini goods carrier as against the three to four lorries he would ship out in the previous years. “This after waiting for nearly half a day,” he said.

“With the fall in production,” Andhi Raji, another agent at the yard, said, “we are now supplying fruit only to Hyderabad. Exports to cities like Delhi and Mumbai have been stopped.”

The dwindling income for custard apple gatherers has come as a dampener this festive season. “My family is barely able to survive on the little we are able to earn from gathering sitaphal. This year, we have not bought any new clothes for Dasara,” rued S Anjamma of China Elikicharla village. She also said how she was able to collect only one basketload of fruit after trekking up to 10 km a day. “Most of the sitaphal trees have disappeared,” she rued.