Farmers prune vineyards, eye better harvest

Nashik: Grape farmers have completed the pruning activities in vineyards across the district following harvest and are eying a better production during the 2016-17 (December-April) season.
The grape season ends by the end of April and pruning activities are undertaken immediately after the harvest. The areas under vineyards in the district have increased from 1.50 lakh acres in the 2014-15 grape season to 1.75 lakh acres during 2015-16.
In Maharashtra, the total areas under the grape plantations are around 3 lakh acres.
"Around 70% of the grape season was over by March end and the farmers had started pruning activities in April. Now, pruning activities are over in vineyards across the district. Preparations for the new season begin with April pruning," said Manik Patil, the Nashik divisional president of Maharashtra Rajya Draksha Bagayatdar Sangh (MRDBS), a state-level association of grape-growers.
"The 2015-16 grape season was encouraging as the grape production increased by almost 60% to 16 lakh metric tonnes as compared to 10 lakh metric tonnes the previous season. The unseasonal rain and hails had badly affected the vineyards and production in 2014-15. But weather conditions were very better this grape season. Moreover, the areas under grape plantation also increased by 25,000 acres in the district," he told TOI.
Grape export from Nashik district also doubled to 1.08 lakh metric tonnes during the 2015-16 export season (December-April) due to good climatic conditions and the farmers' efforts. The district had exported 49,768 metric tonnes of grapes during the 2014-15 season.