‘Sangli’s grape industry hit hard’

SANGLI

Area of crops damaged by delayed monsoon till June-july

rabi crops?

Another farmer, Dadaso Shinde, 40, from Soni, in Sangli, who lost his two-acre grape orchard to the October-november downpour, said it is too late to sow rabi crops. “In June-july, maize and green vegetables dried up. Owing to the pending loan, the bank is not ready to give further loans. We have no option but to approach private lenders,” said Shinde, adding late sowing would increase pest infections.

Pujari and Shinde’s plight is mirrored by thousands of farmers in Sangli, who are awaiting compensation.

Total area of kharif crops sown in Sangli

Area of standing crop damaged by unseasonal rain

Area of crops damaged due to floods in August

Deepak Mhaiskar, Pune divisional commissioner, confirmed they are awaiting compensation from the state for flood-hit victims of Sangli and Satara. “We’ve already sent a report to the state with a list of insured and non-insured farmers. We are constantly in touch with the officials,” he said.

BB Mastoli, district superintendent of agriculture, Sangli, admitted that weather-related catastrophes completely ruined the agricultural sector in Sangli. Meanwhile, the state has submitted a report to the Centre on the financial losses of farmers.

CRORES OF LOSSES ₹116 ₹130 ₹176*

Worth of damages caused by unseasonal rain in Oct-nov

(* in crore)

Worth of damages caused by floods in August

SANGLI: With the unseasonal rain in October and November damaging grapes sown on lakhs of hectares in Sangli and Nashik, wine and grape export industries have been hit hard this year.

In Sangli, 55,000 acres of grapes, of the 1.10 lakh acres under cultivation, were destroyed. In Nashik, crops on around 3.40 lakh hectares were hit by unseasonal rain.

Maharashtra crushes 20,000 tonnes of grapes and produces 1.25 crore litres of wine between December and April. However, this year,only 12,000 to 15,000 tonnes of grapes will be crushed, resulting in the production of 70-80 lakh litres of wine.

Tasgaon, Kavathe-mahankal, Palus and Khanapur in Sangli are known for producing exportquality grapes. However, officials from Sangli district agriculture department said 50% of grape orchards were damaged across seven talukas this year. The department has carried out a crop assessment report and sent it to the state. BB Mastoli, the district superintendent of agriculture, said, “Owing to the unseasonal rain, orchards were waterlogged. Owing to this, roots started rotting. The flowering stage of grapes was hit badly.”

Maharashtra produces around 35 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of grapes every year, of which 2.5 lakh MT are exported.

The All India Grape Exporters Association predicted there will be a 25% to 30% decline in the export of grapes this year. Jagannath Khapre, president of the association, said, “Export to Bangladesh and UAE is delayed. Along with that, export to countries in European Union, Australia would remain lower compared to 2018.’’ The wine producing quality of Nashik grapes, too, was badly affected, as a result of which the crushing season is likely to start in January, a delay of a month. Rajesh Jadhav, secretary of All India Wine Production Association, said, “There will be a 25% reduction in wine production and due to poor quality of the fruit, it will be difficult to maintain quality.”