Limited demand in the market which is further plummeting has caused raisins worth INR 900 crore to lay in the cold storage facilities in Sangli, one of the major grape-delivering areas in Maharashtra. Farmers and merchants trust that the ongoing and up-coming festive season will grant them a breather.
Production of raisin has risen almost twice in the region because of the ongoing lock down. Farmers who used to grow grapes could not take their grapes to the market for selling, instead they started producing raisins. Hence, the current raisin production in the State has gone up to about 2.5 lakh tons from the yearly production value of 1.80 lakh tons in the previous years. Apart from that districts like Sangli, Nashik and Solapur are major grape and raisin producers of the state.
Diminishing Prices:
"After major setbacks over the previous months, at last there is some development over the past ten days. Quality raisin (Super) is being sold at INR150-225 for each kg in the wholesale market, while second-grade items are getting INR 90-150 for each kg. We trust that the raisin cost will sustain or ascend before Diwali," said Raju Kumbhar, President of Sangli-Tasgaon Raisin Merchant Association. Around 90,000 tons of dry fruit is lying in the cold storage located in Sangli. He commented that more and more raisins will come out of the cold storage over the next one week from now as dealers from different States will begin buying. Gulshan Kumar Agrawal, a raisin merchant, said that contrasted with a year ago the market is down and rates are not true to form. "The super quality raisin was sold at a price nearing INR 300 per kilo last year. On the contrary, the average rate for this year is INR 150 per kilo. The demand in the retail sector is down as individuals are not going to the market and furthermore purchasing needs have changed on account of lockdown and changing monetary conditions," he said.
Cold Storage fees:
Despite the fact that the market has slowly shown a bit of growth, farmers who opted for cold storage for keeping their produce are concerned. Farmers need nearly 30,000 rupees for the production of one ton of raisin and now they are paying for cold storage rent also.
"In the event that the market keeps on indicating a negative sign, farmers will be in major dilemma. Most of the farmers in the district totally rely upon grapes and raisin pay," said farmer PP Pawar.
