Season begins on sour note for grape traders

Grapes have started arriving in the Nashik market. On Tuesday, the wholesale price of grapes, which were available in small quantity, at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) here was Rs 450 a crate (15 kg) or Rs 35 a kg.

Around 15 quintal were sold at the Nashik APMC on Tuesday. Om Vasudev Fruits Co, a fruits trading firm, bought around 30 quintal in the last two days at an average wholesale rate of Rs 35 a kg. "Grapes are arriving in very low quantity of about 100 crates (15 quintal) daily.

They are not of good quality either. We bought grapes at Rs 35 a kg. The regular arrivals are expected by mid-January next year," said Ajaykumar Singh, proprietor of Om Vasudev Fruits Co.

The wholesale rates of grapes are less by Rs 5 a kg as compared with those in the same period last year. Low demand, owing to bad climate, is the main reason for the lower prices, said Namdeo Gite, a fruit merchant.

Grape growers in Nashik, the wine capital of the country, have been facing various problems for the last two years. The fall in prices during the previous grape season (January-April 2006) has hit the growers' finances.

The wholesale prices of good quality grapes were around Rs 5 to Rs 7 a kg in the 2006 grape season, while low quality grapes were sold at Rs 10 a kg in the 2005 grape season.

This year too the growers in Niphad, Dindori and Nashik taluks have been badly affected owing to unseasonal rains and hail. Around 80 to 90 per cent of the crop on around 1,700 hectare were completely damaged as a result of heavy, unseasonal rains that lashed the district in the first week of November.