Vijayapura: The District which is known for cultivating grapes in the State, is now registering an upward trend as the grape cultivation area has been significantly increasing in the District.
According to the officials, in the span of just two years, mainly after the outbreak of Covid – 19, the grape growers’ population has significantly increased in the District.
“In the pre-Covid-19 days, that is, in 2019 – 20, the grape cultivation was just around 14,000 hectares in the region. Now, it has surged by a whopping 7,000 hectares in the last two years. With this total grape cultivation has spread over 21,000 hectares across the District.” according to the Department of Horticulture,
Earlier, the grape cultivation was largely seen in Bableshwara Taluk, now, it is being cultivated in all the taluks of the District. Vijayapura is the highest grape cultivator in the State. Bagalakote, Belagavi, Gadaga, Chikkabalapura, and Dodaballapura are the other Districts where grapes are being cultivated.
Suresh Biradar, an IT-employee-cum-farmer and resident of Managuli, pointed out that, “I am working in one of the prestigious software companies in Bengaluru, anf the company has provided us work-from-home facilities since the outbreak of Covid. With only five-days of a working week, I got ample time on weekends to indulge myself fully into agriculture activities as we have over 15 acres of farm-land.”
“I decided to cultivate grapes, which is a popular commercial crop in the region, in about five acres in 2020. This year, I am expecting my first yield. It needs a lot of investment and the Government has to increase its subsidy to encourage more farmers to cultivate grapes in the region,” said Suresh.
At present under the two following schemes, one is National Horticulture Mission, the Central Government programme provides subsidy up to Rs. 50,000 per hectare, and second one is Comprehensive Horticulture Development Scheme, the State Government scheme which also provides subsidy up to Rs. 50,000 per hectare. The farmers are allowed to take benefit of any one of the schemes.
S. M. Bargimat, Deputy Director of the Department of Horticulture, said that, “The grape cultivation is growing vastly in the region. It is a good sign as more people are showing interest in the agriculture activities. The Government had discontinued subsidies and other benefits to grape growers after the Covid. From this year, the Government has reintroduced the benefits to the grape growers.”
“The awareness is being created among the farmers on the Government schemes. The 99 per cent of the grape growers produce raisins and the remaining one per cent produce table grapes. Around 1 lakh metric tonne raisins are produced every season in the region. This is the highest in the State,” he said.
Appealing to the State Government to provide a proper marketing platform, Abhaykumar Nandrekar, Member of Karnataka State Grape Growers’ Association, pointed out that, “There are many factors behind increase in grape growers’ population. Vijayapura has the most-suitable land for grape cultivation, has the friendly-climate for the crop, commercial crop after sugarcane and good yield resulting in good profit, which are the few factors that motivate people to cultivate grapes.”
“However, we are not receiving the help that is necessary from the Government. The Government has to set-up good marketing platforms, a certified agency to assess the quality of raisins, strengthen existing online marketing services, and address the middlemen issues.”
