KURNOOL: The fishermen of Konganapadu, near Ulindakonda, have turned into fruit traders and achieved a turnover of Rs. 5 crores last year. Fruit vending has been providing employment to over 200 people in the village.

The fishing families of the village started gathering wild fruit to supplement their income from fishing 30 years ago.

After water bodies like Hundri River and other rivulets dried up, they took up fruit vending in an organised way. Today, they are much sought in half the State.

The trader groups from the village have established their base centres at Hyderabad, Tirupati, Bangalore, Bellary, Raichur, Nagpur, Mahabubnagar and other important towns in the area. They buy crop before the harvest and sell the fruit in towns. Some of the partners are involved in harvest operations while others are dispersed in towns to market the produce.

Higher price

The produce is dispatched to place where they get a higher price.

The groups are well-versed with the business of sweet orange, mango, grape, pomegranate and sapota. Gorantla of the village said this business could be conducted only as a team not by individuals. Last year the members of his group shared a profit equal to their investment at the end of the year.

There is little scope for large-scale fraud by partners as every member is well-versed with the trade secrets. The business, which was started by the fishing community, has now been taken up by other BC communities and forward caste people like Reddys too.

Konganapadu is a rich village compared to other villages in drought-hit belt of Veldurthi. The village is the only place in the area where BSNL is unable to provide telephones on demand. Over 50 telephones have been installed while 20 other applications are pending as capacity of the route is to be expanded.

Land prices soar

The impact of the income flow is felt in the village in the form of rising prices of land. Dry land is priced at Rs. 70,000 per acre and land with irrigation facility Rs. 1.20 lakhs. Orchards have come up on over 200 acres in the village.

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