Grapes were once cultivated on over 1,500 acres in the district. Drought and absence of any encouragement from the government led to decline in area of cultivation to less than 600 acres in just under a decade. Express Spoke to M Manikam, technical adviser to Coimbatore District Grape Farmers Association on the situation. Once, there were thousands of farmers in the District cultivating grapes. But after a long period of drought starting in 2006, farmers started to quit grapes cultivation and switched to other crops. “Though summer is the apt season for grape cultivation and harvest, the plant cannot sustain continuous drought. While the Agriculture and Horticulture department gave subsidy to other crops, we were not given any subsidy to improve farming conditions,” he said and added, “As a result, the cultivation area in the district reduced to 600 acres from 1500 acre in the last 10 years.”
The first harvest period for grapes is 17 months. “So if a farmer quits grape cultivation, it is difficult to re-enter as the period for first harvest is too long,” he said. The losses incurred by farmers was another deterrent. “The average yield in grape cultivation was around six to seven tonne per acre, for which the cost of production was around Rs 1.5 lakh . But farmers get just Rs 30 per kg for grapes,” he said. North India took up grape cultivation with more vigour and started harvesting surplus produce bringing down the prices. “We do not have any scheme to give subsidy for grape farmers and we are not aware of the decrease in farm land area,” said the deputy director of horticulture A Ramakrishnan said.
The first harvest period for grapes is 17 months. “So if a farmer quits grape cultivation, it is difficult to re-enter as the period for first harvest is too long,” he said. The losses incurred by farmers was another deterrent. “The average yield in grape cultivation was around six to seven tonne per acre, for which the cost of production was around Rs 1.5 lakh . But farmers get just Rs 30 per kg for grapes,” he said. North India took up grape cultivation with more vigour and started harvesting surplus produce bringing down the prices. “We do not have any scheme to give subsidy for grape farmers and we are not aware of the decrease in farm land area,” said the deputy director of horticulture A Ramakrishnan said.