Farmers in Telangana sell raw papayas too as they are preferred by food outlets , which guarantees returns. The image is used for representative purposes only.
| Photo Credit: K BHAGYA PRAKASH
Fruit markets in Telangana started to receive papayas. The harvest from some parts of the State are exported to other States too. Farmers said they sell raw and ripe papayas to avoid losses. The former are preferred by some restaurants and food outlets as an ingredient in making mutton biryani.
A farmer from Vikarabad, M. Narasimha Reddy said that he sells a sack of 5 kg raw papayas at ₹150, each kg at ₹30. “Though fruits are sold for ₹40 to ₹50 a kg, there is a risk of around 20% of fruits rotting and getting wasted. To avoid this, raw papayas too are sold,” he said. Farmers in other districts said vendors cut the fruits from trees and sell it to restaurants or in local markets.
A chef at a star hotel in Hyderabad, Pandari Satya Narayana, said that wrapping mutton with raw papaya paste makes meat tender. This is not opted for the curry.
Third highest produced fruit in Telangana
Papaya stood third in order of the most produced fruits in Telangana in 2024-25: the highest of 10.52 lakh metric tonnes (MT) were mangoes, 4.43 lakh MT sweet oranges and 1.54 lakh MT papayas, according to data from Telangana Horticulture Department.
The department’s Joint director B. Babu said that farmers prefer planting the sapling over sowing seeds and the crop comes to harvest seven to eight months after planting saplings.
Podduturi Ravi from Jagtial, who used to cultivate the crop, said that the tree gives fruits multiple times. Farmers prefer to replace the crop after two years as harvest is less thereafter. The trees gaining height making it difficult to cut the fruits is a factor.
Cultivation around Hyderabad
A Sridhar, Medchal Horticulture and Sericulture Officer, said that the harvest from the district is auctioned at the fruit market in Batasingaram, or vendors cut the produce, wrap it in paper and sell them in local markets.
Exports
He said that when the fruit is still on a tree and develops reddish stripes, it is suitable for local markets. When the harvest has only faint yellow stripes, it is cut, wrapped in papers and exported to other States including Delhi. The fruit (with faint yellow stripes) ripens in around five days – the time is sufficient to transport it.
Rangareddy Deputy Director of Horticulture and Sericulture, K. Suresh said that the produce from the district is exported to Delhi and Mumbai as well.
Vendors visit early morning
S, Hanumanth Reddy, a farmer near Maheshwaram of Rangareddy said that vendors come to their farm, fill their autos with the harvest for sale in local markets including Chandrayangutta, Manikonda and other areas. “Some people come on two-wheelers from far away places in the city early in the morning and leave within an hour of work in farm to sell it,” said Mr. Reddy.
Published – September 12, 2025 10:53 am IST
