For Maharashtra farmers, export of grapes turns sour as prices drop
Grape farmers in Maharashtra aren’t comfortable, despite 106,000 tons of grapes in 7,964 containers have been exported from the State, regardless of the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and series of lockdowns. The farmers are bitter that growth in quantity has not helped them as prices have dipped within the worldwide market.
Grape export from Maharashtra has gone up this year in contrast with final year. In 2019-20, Maharashtra exported 92,342 .403 tonnes grapes in 6,842 containers.
Nashik district exported 96,028.132 tonnes. This means, it has accounted for 90 per cent of the entire grapes exported from Maharashtra, whereas Sangli district has shipped out 6,124.348 tonnes (6 per cent of whole grapes export).
New European lockdown casts shadow on Indian grape exports
The new coronavirus lockdown in several European countries creates a lot of uncertainty for India’s grapes exports, the season for which is set to start next week. The UK and countries of the European Union have been an important market for Indian grapes given the surety of payment there. Indian grape growers deal with both supermarkets as well as wholesale traders, with the former cornering 60 per cent of exports. Almost 80 per cent of Indian exports originate from the vineyards in Maharashtra. Farmers command better prices for export grapes than those meant for the domestic markets.