“I always wished the global recognition for India’s unique fruit taste. Due to the time when my father was working in agriculture, it was far away from that. Now I am part of that communicational bridge between India and the world in a brand creation for the Indian grapes and developing the field-processes together with farmers for better export conditions”
Dhananjay Joshi, Farmer, Member of develoPPP.de
Maharashtra is ranked first in production of grapes, producing about 62.7 per cent of the total production of grapes in India. Before, the commencement of Developpp.de project, i.e., 2013-2014, though the area under grapes in Maharashtra has increased by 82.68 per cent over the base year, the area under grapes has declined in Kolhapur (24.92 per cent), division. As a result, the overall productivity also declined. The productivity of grapes in Maharashtra has decreased by 23.20 per cent over 2013-14 year. Occurrence of frequent droughts has been affecting the performance of the crop. About 1.43 lakh MT of grapes have been traded in organized markets with average price of Rs. 19.14/kg
India ranks 2nd in the world production of fruits and vegetables, just behind China. The volume of India grapes production takes 8th position in the world. Through our training and access to necessary technical and financial information, we canfulfil the main concerns of our Indian small holder farmers.
In cooperation with German Federal Ministry of Economic and Development (BMZ) and our German partner Pilz-Schindler GmbH for a develoPPP.de, we set up the program in India. Individual meetings every week and group training on a quarterly basis with farmers have been conducted to work on solutions in fields. Our cross-country knowledge transfer and network communication give high impact on quality control and process improvements in the field and in the packinghouse.
Higher earnings for farmers Small and marginal farmers with an average land holding of fewer than two hectares constitute 83.29 percent of population of Indian farmers. But in the vicious cycle of production, agriculture has not been profitable for the farmers. The average monthly expenditure among farming household has been estimated at 503 Indian rupees, or 7 euros. For most of the farmers it is hard to invest even the 7 euros, which is a clear sign of poverty.
By integrating smallholder farmers in our value chain, it can generate higher income and better living for the farmers. Our commitment towards the smallholder farmers made us one of the leading exporters in the Sangli region. Over the last three years, we developed a strong relationship with the farmers. Every year new farmers are joining with new energy and enthusiasm.
Over the years, the number of containers increased drastically and according to the plan there is an increase up to 75 containers for theseason 2019. We have a target to fulfil up to 120 containers for the season 2020-2021.
Moreover, Over the years, the total production of the farmers involved in the project increased drastically. Though the total production with increase in production area can be pointed out, but the total productivity is also increased at the same time.
Agrion measures results in better income through higher quality production.
Before the project, the share lies somewhere in the range of 42-45 percent.On average, the total export share of grapes in the total production in Sangli (India) under develoPPP.de project increased up to 81,61 percent in 2016-17 season i.e., an increase of 13,44 percent. This is the improvement in the two years of the project implementation the increase in the share is a result of the technical and training program to the farmers. During Jan-March of 2018, the grape productivity (harvested weight of grapes) was about 295.60 tons. Out of which, the exported quantity is about 97.65% (288.65 tons) of total productivity.It was found out from our gathered data that 70% of total productivity increased in 2018 season than the previous few years. As a result of which, total tons of grapes for export has also been increased up to 70-72%.In the season of 2019, the total productivity is 453.29 tons the export material is about 98.50% of total productivity that is almost equals to 423.17 tons.The increase in the share is a result of the technical and training program to the farmers.
