Cash Crunch even effects Strawberry

MUMBAI: A Scarcity of cash, especially smaller currencies, which Results the fall in the no.of customers, which are taking the strawberries in Mahabaleshwar during the peak season.The month of December began on a sour note as the sales of the famous berry saw a 50% decline compared with the corresponding period last year.

Nitin Bhilare, president of the Strawberry Growers' Association of India, said the tourist flow to the hill station has also dipped, further affecting sales.

"Customers are not spending their limited cash on strawberries. Those who do decide to buy strawberries show up with notes of Rs 2,000 denomination, for which sellers cannot give change. Consequently , transactions in the market have been severely affected. The demand has dropped by 50% to 60% this season," he said.

Bhilare added that nearly 1,000 kg strawberries were discarded in the last three days by sellers in the Mahabaleshwar market alone. "This figure excludes the wastage that is being witnessed by sellers outside the market. Small-time sellers do not have point-of-selling machines for cashless transactions.They sell only in cash."