Pune: Popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar, also known as the queen of all hill stations, is famous for its strawberries. This place accounts for about 85 percent of the total strawberry produced in India. This year the production of strawberries has almost dropped to 50 per cent – from 4,000 acres to a little over 2,000 acres. The drop in production is mainly seen due to the COVID-19. The pandemic has hit hard all kinds of industries. This Pandemic led to a delay in the arrival of saplings from Italy, Spain, Poland, and California, among other locations.
The saplings arrived in India by the last week of July, which usually arrives in May. The delay and poor financial condition reflected upon the drop in production this year. President of all India Strawberry Growers Association, Balasaheb Bhilare, told media persons, “Less plantation also means that consumers and the food processing industry will have to pay more to get the raw fruit for further processing.
The price of one kg of strawberry costs Rs 150-200 in the market, at some places, the price range 250-300 especially in the city. The harvest yield this year is very low and in a very limited capacity. As a result, the rates will go high. The fruit is mainly planted in Jawali, Mahabaleshwar, and Wai in Satara. The imported saplings are used by growers to make sub-plants for cultivation at their farms. There are very few domestic suppliers but the quality is not comparable to those coming from abroad. Probably that is the reason growers prefer imported saplings. One imported sapling costs around Rs 35-50 while domestic saplings cost around Rs 15-20.
Adverse weather conditions and unseasonal rainfall over the last two year is badly affecting the yield and causing huge financial loss.