Grapes turn sour for farmers in north Karnataka as prices record sharp fall

The farmers are in distress owing to steep fall in price of dry grapes in Vijayapura district in north Karnataka, known as the hub of grapes

Mysuru

The farmers are in distress owing to steep fall in price of dry grapes in Vijayapura district in north Karnataka, known as the hub of grapes. (Ht Photo)

The farmers are in distress owing to steep fall in price of dry grapes in Vijayapura district in north Karnataka, known as the hub of grapes.

Last year the dry grapes were sold at ₹150 to ₹250 per kg. This year the price has crashed drastically and grapes are being sold at just ₹60 to ₹110 per kg, according to officials and growers’ association. Due to this, the grape growers are in distress as they could not get even the production cost. According to horticulture department sources grapes are grown in a total area of 36,371 hectares in the state, of which Vijayapura district accounts for 25,575 hectares. The district has production share of 70.32% of the state.

Raisins (dried grape) brought profit to the farmers every year. But this year the grape grower is in trouble because the prices have fallen. Every year 600,000 tonnes of grapes are grown in Vijayapur district alone. Of this, 125,000 tonnes are being converted into raisins. Due to good weather this time, the production of grapes rose to 700,000 plus tonnes in Vijayapura district. The district has a turnover of ₹4,000 crore every year; over 100,000 families depend on the grape crop for their livelihood. In addition to this, thousands of wage labourers are making a living.

“The production increased this year owing to good climatic conditions, but reduced demand caused fall in price,” Vijayapura district horticulture department deputy director Siddaramaiah Baragimath said.

The district has cold storage facility for 40,000 tonnes and every year grape grown area increases by 3,000 to 4,000 hectares. The growers’ organisations are demanding minimum support price (MSP) for grapes, and urging the government to take a decision in this regard.

Grape grower Ravi Toravi of Tikota village in Babaleshwara assembly constituency said he has grown grapes o his two acres of land but due to price fall he could not even get production cost. “We have to wait for three years and spend more than ₹2 lakh per acre to grow grapes, but price fall has affected us,” he said. Toravi said most of the dry grapes produced here is sold through middlemen in neighbouring Maharashtra which has better cold storage units with auction facilities.

The district grape growers’ association held a preliminary meeting on Tuesday in Vijayapura.

‘’The grape growers are in distress due to increased production cost. The state government should announce support price for grape growers,’’ district grape growers’ association president K M Mumba Reddy said. He said raisins should be included in the midday meal scheme offered in schools. It was decided in the meeting that the government should rush to help the grape growers who are in financial trouble.

The growers said a delegation would go to the chief minister’s office next week and would request the state government to come to the their rescue soon.