India's grape export market is profiting from unseasonal rainfall in Chile, which has affected grape quality there, thus reducing their exports. As a result Indian grape exports have tripled with 1,400 containers exported to Europe and the UK and 1,200 containers exported to other countries as of Wednesday 17 February. Export prices hover between Rs 70 to Rs 90 per kg.
Giving this information, Manikrao Gangadhar Patil, divisional president of Draksha Bagiatdar Sangh, Maharashtra, said that, last year the number of containers to Europe was 400. “The average capacity of each container sent to Russia is 16 tonnes while for other places it is 12 tonnes,” Mr Patil said.
Grape exports to European countries begin late in January; while exports to Russia, Far East, Dubai, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and other places began in December.
However, as there is no online record, it is difficult to give exact statistics for other countries. “Exporters hope to export over 2,00,000 tonnes of grapes this season (2015-2016), as so far only 20 per cent of grapes have been harvested,” Mr Patil said.
Grape Exporters Association of India (GEAI) president Jagannath Khapare said that if nature is kind, they would be able to break the record of 2013-14 in which they exported 1,92,616.92 tonnes grapes. Nashik is the largest producer of grapes and onions in the country.
(1 Indian Rupee= 0.015 USD)
Source: asianage.com
