Panchagani strawberry farmers on a high

Greater acceptance in the international market and the high demand triggered by the Indian retail boom has sent strawberry farmers of Panchgani on a high as they gear up to double the area under strawberry plantation.

The juicy red fruit grown in Bhilar and adjacent villages on the slopes of Sahyadris in the Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani region was being exported to West Asia and some markets in Europe. Strawberry farmers in the region however saw a major breakthrough when global FMCG giant Unilever placed a 100 tonne order for their Belgium and France processing units.

"The order was completed to the satisfaction of Unilever and they have indicated they will pick up around 2,000 tonnes of strawberry for their global requirement next season," Kisan Bhilare, vice-chairman of Shriram Fruit Processing Co-operative society told reporters on Saturday.

"The short day varieties such as Sweet Charlie and Camarosa, grown in the Panchgani belt matches with the best in the world and will now open new vistas for us in the Indian retail sector as well," Bhilare added. Large Indian retail players such as Reliance and Bharti have evinced interest in procuring strawberry from us, he informed.

Global importers need strawberries in individual quick frozen (IQF) form for which cold storage facilities with IQF capacity are necessary. Mayur Vora, director of Mapro Products Pvt Ltd said that his company is planning an investment of Rs 20 crore to build a cold storage with IQF capacity of 10 tonnes per day. Additionally, Pravin Quick Foods has IQF facilities in the nearby Shirval food park which can meet the freezing requirements.

The Panchgani-Bhilar region, which accounts for over 85 per cent of the strawberry grown in India, has about 1,500 acres of land under strawberry plantation. The total production this year was 10,000 tonne.

"The acreage will have to increase if we want to meet the demand that is likely to shoot up next season," Bhilare said.

He said that efforts are on to add another 1,500 acres of land for strawberry plantation in Panchgani region. The society is also encouraging farmers from other stretches in the backwater area of Koyna Dam to grow strawberry, he said.

According to Bhilare a one-acre strawberry farm accommodates 22,000 plants, and each plant yields 400 gms of fruit. In global terms, United States grows four lakh tonnes of strawberry every year and China accounts for 1.5 lakh tonne.

India's share is miniscule in comparison to this. Limitations of soil and climate restrict production. "Efforts are on to increase the per acre yield by importing the mother root stock which has a higher productivity," he said.

Bhilare said that Indian strawberry is cost-competitive because of the family-owned nature of land holdings and zero supervision and management cost as all the family members work in the farm. Strawberry can fetch a net surplus of Rs 80,000 per acre he informed.

Chairman of the All India Strawberry Growers' Association Balasaheb Bhilare said that the association has asked for certain concessions for strawberry from the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act.

"This Act compels us to first take the fruit to APMC yard, where the sale takes place. The fruit is then transported to the buyer's location. This involves a time lag of nearly 30 hours and the fruit loses the advantage of cooling as the cold chain breaks at the APMC yard. If we are allowed to sell strawberry directly to the buyers the consumers will get them fresher and faster," he said.