Sans govt support, TN grape farmers don’t see future for ‘perishable’ crop

COIMBATORE: Worried farmers have called for a slew of supportive measures from the government to revive grape cultivation in Coimbatore.

“As grapes are a perishable crop, a large quantity of the fruit goes waste during mass production. So the need of the hour is to develop a cold storage facility to avoid any loss to farmers during seasons of good harvest,” said Dr TN Balamohan, former dean, Horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU).

There has also been a long pending demand of farmers to set up a wine factory to revive the fortunes of the grape growers in Tamil Nadu. Demand for grapes usually peaks in the months of November and December, when people make home- made wine for Christmas.

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“As wine is also prescribed by doctors for medical purposes, wine could be branded as a non-alcoholic beverage since it contains just three to five per cent of alcohol as against cough syrups, which are said to have higher alcohol content,” claimed farmers. They also look for support from the government to build required infrastructure to make value added products like squashes and jams from grapes. A major drawback for declining areas of cultivation is that grape farming is highly expensive and needs a skilled workforce to carry out regular pruning work.

“Also, grapes are highly susceptible to fungal diseases. Only preventive measures should be taken up and curative measures aren’t effective. As there is a lack of market for grapes in Tamil Nadu, it doesn’t fetch a reasonable price, when there is better harvest. So, the government should give subsidies and loans to farmers to establish infrastructure for processing facilities. Issues in production and commercializing the processed product should also be studied and resolved. Grapes also have a lot of medicinal properties and even its seed is rich in antioxidants,” said Dr TN Balamohan.