After unexpected dip in January, grape exports may pick up again in Feb

Vilas Shinde, chairman of the Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company (FPC), said he hoped exports will pick February onwards. Located in Dindori taluka of Nashik district, Sahyadri is the largest exporter of grapes in the country. “Our share this year is around 25 per cent of the total export-we are also facing the problem of unavailability of quality produce,” he said.

He added that exports will pick February onwards, as farmers have reported quality produce ready for harvest. “In case there are no other severe weather events like hailstorms or unseasonal rain, there would be good produce for overseas markets,” he said. Traditional markets like Europe, Russia, the middle east and Bangladesh continue to corner lion shares of the export. While trial consignments were sent to the USA, exporters are not very hopeful of breaking into the market early.

In the present season, Jaganath Khapre, president of Grapes Exporters Association, said that till date, there have been no major incidents of rejection at the export markets. Khapre said the present season will continue till April end. Other than Nashik, other grape growing areas like Sangli and Latur, among others, have also reported good quality produce, he said.

At present, ex-farm gate prices of grapes suitable for the export market are retailing at around Rs 90 to Rs 110 per kg, while those in domestic markets are retailing at around Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg. Shinde said the present cold wave in North India has reduced demand in the domestic market. “Also, the low quality of the fruit has affected the price. We hope that once the cold wave recedes, domestic prices will improve further,” he said.