For Maharashtra farmers, export of grapes turns sour as prices drop
Grape farmers in Maharashtra are not delighted notwithstanding the point that one.06 lakh tonnes of grapes in seven,964 container have been exported from the Point out despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and collection of lockdowns. The farmers are sour that development in volume has not aided them as costs have dipped in the global market place.
Grape export from Maharashtra has gone up this 12 months in contrast with previous 12 months. In 2019-twenty, Maharashtra exported ninety two,342 .403 tonnes grapes in 6,842 containers.
Nashik district exported ninety six,028.132 tonnes. This usually means, it has accounted for 90 for each cent of the whole grapes exported from Maharashtra, whilst Sangli district has delivered out 6,124.348 tonnes (6 for each cent of whole grapes export).
The Netherlands is a key export destination for Maharashtra grapes with sixty four for each cent of the fruit heading to that region. Over 68,406 tonnes of grapes were being exported to the Netherlands in five,153 containers. Over 19,575 tonnes of grapes were being exported to the United kingdom in one,389 containers. About 9,857 tonnes grapes were being exported to Germany. Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland and Poland are other export marketplaces for Maharashtra grapes.
According to data from the Agricultural and Processed Food items Export Growth Authority, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have not exported grapes previous 12 months as perfectly as the latest 12 months until Might 12.
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“Compared to previous 12 months, exports have gone up but this has not aided farmers in any which way. Excellent availability of grapes retained market place rates down for the whole season other than for the previous handful of times. Pricesof grapes dominated minimal and farmers been given no sizeable returns,” mentioned Jagannath Khapre, President of All India Grape Exporters Association.
Vilas Shinde, Chairman and Handling Director of Sahyadri Farms, Nashik-primarily based FPC, mentioned, “ Domestic marketplaces crashed and hence more farmers desired to export their make. As a consequence, the volume of export surged. Transport providers and supermarkets in Europe were being the key beneficiaries. Transport providers hiked rates by about forty for each cent and European supermarkets which have a monopoly on the market place bought grapes at a minimal cost.”
Shinde mentioned that export of grapes exceeded the demand in the European market place. “Only exporting grapes in massive selection is not going to help farmers. We have to set a method in area to management the offer in domestic and overseas marketplaces.”