PUNE: The popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar, which is also known for its strawberries, has seen an almost 50% drop in plantations this year — from 4,000 acres to a little over 2,000 acres — as the pandemic has led to a delay in the arrival of saplings from Italy, Spain, Poland and California, among other locations.
“We got the saplings by the last week of July as against the usual arrivals in May. The delay and poor financial condition of strawberry growersh as reflected in a huge drop in plantations this year,” Balasaheb Bhilare, president of the All India Strawberry Growers Association,told TOI on Wednesday.
“Fewer plantations also means that consumers and the food processing industry will have to pay more to get the fruit during the strawberry season that begins towards the end of December,” he added. The fruit is mainly planted in Jawali, Mahabaleshwar and Wai in Satara.
He said, “As of now, a kilogram of strawberry is being sold in the market for Rs150-200 and, at some places, the price is in the range of Rs250-300 in Pune city. The harvested yield is now coming from very few plantations and in a very limited capacity. As a result, the rates are high.”
Bhilare added, “Imported saplings are used by growers to make sub-plants for cultivation at their farms. There are a few domestic suppliers of saplings, but the quality is not comparable to those coming from abroad. As such, strawberry growers prefer the imported saplings. One imported sapling costs in the range of Rs35-50 and the growers can make at least 15-20 sub plants for domestic nurseries from one sapling.”
“Adverse weather condition and unseasonal rainfall over the last two years badly affected many growers and caused them huge financial losses. These factors had also prompted many growers against cultivating strawberry this year,” added Bhilare.