Nashik district has witnessed a drop of 30% in the registration of vineyards growing table grapes for export. According to the Grape Exporters’ Association of India (GEAI), many grape farmers have refrained from registering their vineyards for export because of various challenges. The rise in freight charges and prices of packaging materials are among the main reasons. While the freight charges of containers have almost doubled, the packaging material charges have increased by 30%.
As per the government norms, it is mandatory for the farmers wanting to export grapes to register their vineyards with the State Agriculture Department. In 2020, some 37,090 farmers had registered their vineyards, involving 22,790 hectares of land. This year, the registration of vineyards for grape exports have dropped by 30%. Only 25,571 farmers registered, involving 13,248 hectares.
Nashik district exported 129,000 tons of grapes during the last grape season. Of this amount, 96,000 tons of grapes were exported to European countries like The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom etcetera, while remaining 33,000 tons of grapes were exported to non-European countries like Russia, Malaysia, Dubai etcetera.
