The heavy and incessant rain that has hit Maharashtra and Gujarat over the last three days, is all set to dent the export of cash crops such as grapes, pomegranates, alphonso mangoes and cashewnuts. Output of other crucial crops such as rice, sugarcane and cotton is also expected to suffer in Konkan, northern and western Maharashtra and southern Gujarat.
Maharashtra had witnessed 38,000 tonnes of grape exports last year and approximately 37,000 tonnes of pomegranate exports.
Due to the heavy rain that has lashed Sangli, Solpaur, Satara, Pune and Nashik districts, the output of export quality pomegranates might see a sharp fall this year, officials of the state agriculture department told Business Standard.
“The pomegranate production in Sangli, Solapur and Nashik districts alone will see a decline of almost 50 per cent as ripe fruits have been hit due to the unexpected rainfall,” sources said.
Maharashtra cultivates export-quality grapes on approximately 45,000 hectares while pomegranates are cultivated on one lakh hectare. “The rain has damaged crops in larger belt of Maharashtra and southern Gujarat. All this will be reflected in the final output by the end of the season,” another official stated.
Officials at the College of Agriculture believe, other prominent crops such as alphonso mangoes, cashewnuts and cotton too would be damaged.
“Rice and cashewnuts have been affected in the Konkan belt and the coastal belt of Gujarat while cotton production has been affected in the north Maharashtra region. Even, the export potential of alphonso mangoes might see a drop in the coming season,” the official stated.
Last year, Maharashtra produced more than 300 lakh quintals of cotton. The cotton estimates this year are already low at 275 lakh quintals and they would further be hit by the unexpected rainfall in the region. The sugarcane crushing, that started on October 25, is expected to slow down due to the heavy rains as the sugar factories in Maharashtra are not receiving adequate quantity of cane for crushing.
Heavy rain to hit states on Thursday
The cyclonic depression formed in the Arabian Sea would result into heavy rainfall in southern Gujarat, northern Maharashtra and nearby regions of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday early morning. This cyclonic formulation named ‘Phyan’ is expected to move north-eastwards and cross coast between southern Gujarat and Thane district (Maharashtra) and move through Mahuva and Dahanu in the early hours of November 12, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.
“There will be good rain especially in Maharashtra in the next 24 hours and heavy showers would be seen along the coastal belt of Alibaug and Mumbai. There are no signs of the rain subsiding in the next 24 hours,” Dr A B Mazumdar, Deputy Director General, IMD-Pune told Business Standard on Wednesday.
