India exports about 60 thousand metric tons of grapes to Bangladesh every year. But India's grape growers are worried as exports fell by 20 percent last season. This information is known from the report of the country's media Times of India on Saturday.
Farmers see the increase in import duty of Bangladesh as the biggest reason behind this. Apart from this, lack of adequate incentives from the government to meet the cost of special process grape cultivation and adverse crop insurance policies are already one of the concerns of growers.
India exports 260 thousand metric tons of grapes to various countries every year. Out of this, 80 percent of total grape export comes from Maharashtra's Nashik district. About one and a half lakh acres of land in Nasik district is cultivated with grapes.
Niphad is a town in Nashik district. The city is home to 65,000 grape growers. Farmers here are worried as grape exports have declined this year. They say that the state government has not solved the problems in the last decade. On top of that, even though Bangladesh increased the import duty on grapes, the government did not take any initiative, but their frustration increased. Because, about 28 percent of India's total grape exports are sent to Bangladesh.
A grape exporter named Madhukar Gavli said, 'Bangladesh is the main importer of Indian grapes. But the problem has arisen due to the imposition of additional duty. Last season, the import duty of grapes was increased from Tk 65 to Tk 104 per kg. As a result, the export of grapes to Bangladesh has decreased by 20 percent.
However, the problem is not only in sales, but also in production. Among these, climate change is a major problem. Especially February and March are the time of grape picking. But then erratic rains and storms caused damage to the vineyard.
Ashwin Bhosle, another grape grower of Niphad, said, 'Cover farming protects our orchards from natural calamities. But plastic covers are very expensive. 4 lakh per acre cost. These costs are difficult to bear. In this case, we want more than 50 percent subsidy from the state government.
Bharat Shinde, another grape grower, said, 'GST or Goods and Services Tax is another big problem. Central government levied 18 percent tax on fertilizers and pesticides. A grape grower pays GST of Rs 50,000 per acre per year. It increases the cost of production. We want the government to remove goods and services tax and provide fertilizers and pesticides at low prices.'
These issues have become important ahead of assembly elections in the state. Dilip Banker, the current MLA of Nifad assembly constituency, said, “I have requested the state government to discuss with the central government that the Bangladesh government will help us increase exports by reducing the duty on grapes.”
Referring to the recent lifting of import duty on onions, he said, 'We hope that Bangladesh will lift the import duty on grapes as well.'
This MLA also said, 'I am also discussing with the state government about the system of providing subsidy to farmers for plastic covers. We are also in talks with states and the Center to waive GST to farmers on purchase of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides.'
But this is not the end of the problem. Grape grower Manoj Jadhav said, 'Crop insurance policies are also not effective. The insurance was effective from October, but the garden was damaged by rains in September. As a result, farmers do not get compensation for the losses incurred in the month of September.
