Heavy rain a bane for strawberry fields: markets down in Pune

The heavy downpour following the onset of the cyclone Phyan has had an adverse impact on around 300 acres of strawberry fields Mahabaleshwar registered a rainfall of 103.6 mm on November 11 and November 12 that proved to be a major setback for strawberry cultivation.

The heavy downpour following the onset of the cyclone Phyan has had an adverse impact on around 300 acres of strawberry fields Mahabaleshwar registered a rainfall of 103.6 mm on November 11 and November 12 that proved to be a major setback for strawberry cultivation. The city accounts for 80 per cent of the countrys strawberry produce.

This kind of rainfall and gusty winds are bad for strawberries,which is why we grow them after the rains are over. Nearly 40 per cent of my plants were in the fruiting stage; they are now useless. If the weather clears up fast,we may be able to save the rest of the crop, said Raju Rajpure,a strawberry cultivator and director of a district cooperative bank who has five acres under strawberry cultivation this year.

A resultant shortage of strawberries may affect the supply to the Mumbai and Pune markets which together get around six tonnes of strawberries everyday.

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Pune was getting two tonnes,while Mumbai was getting around four tonnes daily. It will take another 15-20 days at least for the supply to normalise, said Balasaheb Billare,president of the strawberry growers association.

Mahabaleshwar has over 1,600 acres of land allotted to strawberry cultivation. Strawberry is also grown in a few pockets of Pune and Nashik.

The plants are sown mostly in September and October. Over 300 acres were in the fruiting stage. Nobody will be able to sell these fruits, Billare said.

Each acre under strawberry cultivation normally yields strawberry worth around Rs 5 lakh. Despite the plant shortage at the beginning of the season,it seemed like growers would be able to get returns on investment this year. The first flush of strawberries this year was selling at Rs 500 per kg; which later lowered to Rs 200-300 per kg. I normally grow strawberries on seven acres,this year I could find plants for only five acres, Rajpure said. Growers say there is no time to plant a fresh crop now. Normally,they procure the crops in June,prepare the nurseries by September and then finish with the plantation by the first week of November. We export around 300-400 tonnes each year in February. This year,we will have to see how much we can export from the plants that can still yield fruits, said Billare.

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