Indian agriculture has been hit by bad weather, with strong rainfall and hailstorms that have caused numerous problems. A source that wishes to remain anonymous states that “Growers have lost a lot of money and all export operations will conclude in one week’s time. The volume shipped to Europe will drop by almost 50% compared to last year, from 6,000 to around 3,000 containers.”
This situation, according to our source, will entail “A big shortage of grapes in Europe, since exporters will be unable to fulfil their orders. It is an unprecedented situation for the country; every year there are some rains or hail in some grape-producing areas, but this year the weather has affected nearly all of them, including Sangli, Solapur, Latur and Nashik.”
He affirms that European importers, in any case, have so far been understanding regarding the issue, and that there have been attempts to complete the orders with Chilean or Egyptian grapes.
For Amit Kalya of Kalya Exports, based in Nashik, states that some of the areas where they cultivate grapes have been affected by hail, “And these are totally destroyed. We have lost 50% of our export volume, since part of the production has been destroyed and another part is no longer fit for export. We have been trying to obtain fruit from other areas, but prices are not good, and consequently, this would not be feasible in the long term,” he declares.
Mahagrapes Technical Manager Sachin Korde also confirms the many problems caused by the weather and reports a loss of 80-85% of the export volume for the Nashik and Sangli areas. “The weather has significantly damaged the fruit, which no longer has the quality for long-distance shipments. There will be attempts to distribute it in the domestic market, but this will entail difficulties.”
He states that at the moment the extent of the damage is still being assessed by the government, after which talks about compensations will start . Furthermore, “Because this has been happening for the last two to three years, policies may be launched to introduce plastic protection covers for the crops."
For more information:
Amit Kalya
Kalya Exports
kalyaexports@yahoo.co.in
Tel: +91-253-251-3001
Sachin Korde
Mahagrapes - India
Tel: +91- 20-24263818