Grape growers are putting up with the dual challenge of fall in price and no market access following the Covid-19 outbreak lockdown across the country.
The price of grapes in many parts of Karnataka is only Rs 20 per kilogram. This too has no takers even if the growers deliver to the doorstep of customer. With many of the direct marketing approaches failing for the growers they are in a predicament. It is here drying grapes into raisins which is a value addition that is being opted by many growers.
Even Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) are supporting the cause of the grape growers by hosting their varieties on WhatsApp groups as they desperately seek sales of the fresh produce.
“Obviously there is a glut and with fall in demand, because of Covid-19 , it is not only grapes but all other fruits are facing similar problems because of the lockdown,” stated Dr C K Narayana, CEO, BEEST HORT (TBI of IIHR) and scientist, Post Harvest Technology, ICAR-IIIHR, while speaking to F&B News in a telecon.
In fact, the research on grapes started in IIHR in 1972 and its key contribution has been to provide the ‘Dogridge’ rootstock. Today, more than 1.2 lakh hectare of grapes grown in India stand on the Dogridge cultivation. Grapes are grown across the country. “Almost 90 per cent produce is from Maharashtra, followed by Punjab and Karnataka where it is cultivated at Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Kolar and part of Bengaluru.
Hyderabad too was well known for its Anab-e-Shahi variety which has fallen in terms of production as vineyards have been taken over with the real estate boom,” he added.
The seedless grapes Sharad and Thompson are fresh table varieties. Tas-A Ganesh too is another high quality produce from Nagpur. People prefer eating the seedless and the seeded ones are processed for juice, jams and wines.
Moreover during the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, growers of seedless grapes are now looking at the option of drying and converting them into raisins which has huge market demand. Hot weather is the best suited as it can be stored away till the growers find a market. In an effort to address the livelihood concerns, the Union government has permitted some industries including food processing to operate. It is here juice and jam manufacturers can source the same. But the green seedless varieties can be only dried which can be done at the farm level, according to Dr Narayana.
Now to offset the current crisis, growers somehow need to salvage this season and look at pruning the plant once the season for grapes is over. “Being a long-term crop, they cannot also shift to another fruit or vegetable cultivation,” he noted.
Moving on the cold storage infrastructure for grapes, Dr Narayana said that while capacity exists, there was a fee levied for its access and grapes could be stored only for a month and grape growers needed to access facilities in their vicinity so that by the time the lockdown is lifted they could reach out to the market.
India can export raisins to Europe and the Middle-East. The former is a stringent market mandating Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification. Mainly only grape farms in Maharashtra are certified. The others can export to the Middle-East and focus only on domestic market opportunities.
Another key issue is that grapes for wine making have to be of high quality and growers are also challenged by the stringent norms of the Excise department in Karnataka. This has led to many wine makers import grapes for this purpose.