Maharashtra to grow organic grapes

Ties up with Bangalore based body for knowhow and guidance

Maharashtra, the leading producer of grapes in the country, has initiated a pilot project to grow organic grapes.

The state has entered into an agreement with Bangalore-based non government organisation International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA), engaged in advocating and popularising organic agriculture, to undertake the project in select places.

Under the pilot project spread over five years, Maharashtra's department of agriculture proposes to grow both the table and wine varieties of organic grapes in an area of 350 acres.

"This is the first of its kind project undertaken by any government in the country. We are making an attempt to produce organic wine, for which there is a huge demand in the western countries. Our farmers will not only get higher returns for their produce, but will also famirialise themselves with the idea of growing their produce organically," said an ICCOA spokesperson.

Out of 350 acres earmarked for growing organic grapes, 250 acres will be used for vineyards. About 920 tonne of wine grapes will be grown to produce 6.7 lakh bottles of organic wine. For organic table quality grapes, ICCOA has suggested earmarking 100 acres of land, wherein 5 lakh boxes (each box of 2 kg grapes) of grapes will be grown, ICCOA's head of marketing Manoj Menon said.

The area selected for growing organic grapes will take three years to get certified as organic by certification agencies. The first batch of organic grapes and wine is expected to hit the markets by 2009.

As many as 250 farmers are being encouraged in the grape growing regions of Maharashtra to convert their farms into organic farming under this project. While the main thrust of this project is on exports, attempts will be made to introduce organic wine in the domestic market as well.

The Maharashtra government, at a meeting with the representatives of ICCOA, has assured that it will provide a subsidy to the selected farmers to grow organic grapes and set up the necessary infrastructure. The ICCOA will create clusters of farmers and provide them training and transfer the knowhow to grow organic grapes.

It has already identified master farmers and trained them to lead the project.

"We are expecting a good response to this project as growing grapes organically will save substantial amount on investment. As per our calculation, the cost of growing grapes organically will be about Rs 16,000 per acre annually, while it costs as high as Rs 40,000-50,000 per acre annually if grown in a traditional way. The farmers are now convinced that they can save money upfront and earn more on the final produce," Menon said.