Unseasonal rains impact strawberry arrival

The fruit has not only arrived late in the Pune market, the quantity and quality too is not up to the mark, according to traders and farmers

Unseasonal rain during October and November in Mahabaleshwar has impacted the strawberry crop this year and the fruit has not only arrived late in the Pune market, the quantity and quality too is not up to the mark, according to traders and farmers.

Strawberry has started to arrive in Pune market after delay occur due to unseasonal rains during October in Mahableshwar. (HT photo)

While strawberries typically arrive in the Pune market in the second week of November, this time around, they have arrived as late as Sunday, December 4, 2022. Balasaheb Bhilare, head, Strawberry Growers’ Association of Maharashtra, said, “The strawberry market this season is small as the crop has been damaged due to unseasonal rainfall apart from many farmers having started strawberry cultivation late. Farmers were expecting that the rain will not impact the crop after August but rainfall continued in parts of Satara. It rained on Sunday, December 4 as well.”

“Since the crop is less, retailers may sell at high prices but for farmers, there won’t be more profit this season,” Bhilare said.

There are around 4,000 farmers cultivating strawberries in the Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Wai belt of Satara district. At least 80% of strawberries produced in India come from Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra) while the remaining 20% come from Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Umesh Dhole, who does strawberry farming in Panchgani, said, “The unseasonal rains have impacted the growth of strawberries. As the production is less, the rates will be higher.”

Sameer Jang, who has strawberry farms in Mahabaleshwar, said, “On most occasions, there was rain when the fruit was ready for plucking which caused more damage.”

Baba Bibve, official, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Pune, said, “Strawberries did not arrive in November this season as well. Since the last two years, the arrival of strawberries has been late.”

Yuvraj Kanchi, a fruit wholesaler from Marketyard, said, “This year, the arrival of strawberries is late and many wholesalers are not selling strawberries because the quality of the fruit has suffered due to unseasonal rain.”

Whereas retail fruit seller Iqbal Shaikh from Mandai said, “The fruit is always in demand but every year, the quality of strawberries is deteriorating. Hence, we buy strawberries in less quantity.”

Rates

Rates of strawberry: Rs150 to Rs350 per kg

Normal time for arrival of fruit: November 2nd week

Arrival this season: December 1st week