Hyderabad: The much-awaited jamun or black plum fruit began arriving in the city from local and other state suppliers at the beginning of the month of June and will continue till the end of September.
As usual, the prices of jamun are skyrocketing, costing between Rs 100 and Rs 250 a kilogram in the retail market.
“Pricing is done depending upon the quality of the fruit. Good quality demands a higher price while the second-grade quality is sold for a lesser price,” explained a vendor at Attapur, Syed Maqbool.
The fruit is sold both on push carts in small quantities, for Rs 10 or Rs 20, while in trolley auto rickshaws it is sold in bulk, half a kilogram or more. The auto trolley vendors bring in the supplies in bulk from Moazzam Jahi Market and sell them to customers at low profits.
“We conduct business at a profit margin of Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kilogram. At the end of the day we earn about Rs 1,000 after keeping aside the fuel charges,” said a vendor at Mehdipatnam, Syed Nayeem.
The jamun reaches the markets at Mamidpally Pahadishareef, Moazzam Jahi Market, Bata Singaram and Gudimalkapur from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In bulk, it arrives from Madanapalle region in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka border districts.
Madanapalle region towards the Karnataka border produces about 300 tonnes of this hybrid variety jamun in about one hundred hectares, between May and August.
The jamun arrives at the markets in trucks and is afterwards sold to the local vendors by the commission agents at the markets.
| 
