Rain and hailstorms hit the Indian grape-growing region of Nashik over the weekend, damaging crops and delaying harvesting.
Some 38,000ha in the district is understood to have been affected, Azhar Tambuwala of Sahyadri Farms told Fruitnet today (16 December), adding that the sector was still assessing the full extent of the damage to the grape crop.
“We will know more over the coming days but overall production has been affected,” he said. “The season was due to begin now, but has been delayed. The Thompson Seedless crop has been damaged because of cracking. There may be some damage to the export crop.”
Press reports speculate that as much as 30 per cent of India’s grape crop could be lost, with some growers losing 100 per cent of their yields. Exports to Europe are due to start in January.
But Nitin Agrawal of leading Indian grape grower-shipper Euro Fruits urged the industry not to panic.
“Whenever there is a natural calamity or disaster such as unseasonal rains or hailstorms, the first reaction or feedback is always very scary and out of proportion,” he told Fruitnet. “It has been proved many times in the past that the losses are actually far less than expected. I hope even this time the same thing happens. I keep my fingers crossed.
“As far as Euro Fruits is concerned almost all of our growers are secure. Only a few were affected and that too with a small quantity. I have already given confirmation to all our clients that their programmes are fully secured.”
Nashik was battered by 1,202mm rainfall accompanied by hailstorms from last Thursday into the weekend, district officials told the press. Mango and cashew crops in northern parts of Maharashtra also bore the brunt of the unseasonable rains.
Maharashtra's pomegranate crop has also been damaged. 'The rains hit about 25-35 per cent of pomegranate production in north Maharashtra while it did not hit the south. The shortfall in production will not have any immediate impact on prices. But they can shoot up in March/April,' Kaushal Khakar, CEO, Kay Bee Exports told The Economic Times.
Farmers in several parts of Maharashtra took to the streets on Saturday demanding compensation for their destroyed crops, The Hindu reported.
Beleaguered farmers also staged protests in several parts of Nashik district, demanding swift action from authorities.
The state is in the throes of a full-blown agricultural crisis after its drought-prone eastern parts, namely the rain-shadow regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha have been experiencing consecutive bad rainfall years since 2012, The HIndu said.
The current winter crisis is set to stretch the resources of India’s most debt-ridden state.
According to The Hindu, the minister of state for cooperatives, Dada Bhuse visited Nashik over the weekend and assured afflicted farmers of speedy relief. Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal, also on a tour of Nashik, demanded the government pay a compensation of Rs50,000 per hectare to farmers.
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