Sweet taste of success

A Maharashtra villages farmers thrive on a shift to strawberry

Around half a decade ago,five farmers of Daab village of Nandurbar district began planting strawberries on half an acre each. It was then an experiment. The yield was so impressive that the farmers,who till then had been growing traditional crops such as maize,barley,vegetables and pulses,were encouraged enough to replicate the strawberry effort on their farms. The numbers kept increasing,and today as many as 87 farmers of Daab are growing strawberry on a total 40 acres.

It began with the district agriculture department taking 15 farmers of Daab to Surgana taluka in Nashik district on an agricultural education programme five years ago. Like Mahabaleshwar,Surgana is also famous for strawberry plantation. There,our farmers were given a demonstration about this, says Rattilal Sitaram Mhale,taluka agriculture officer; Daab village comes under Akkalkua taluka.

That is where we learnt that the climate of Daab is similar to that of Surgana and Mahabaleshwar,two places in Maharashtra that are very popular for their strawberries, Mhale says.

Twenty mother plants were brought from Surgana and planted in Daab. The plants had a healthy growth. Strawberry grows well under temperate climate of 15 to 34 degrees. Even the soil of this village is well-drained,which complements the growth of strawberries,an exotic fruit, says Ashok Maruti Kamble,district superintendent agriculture officer,Nandurbar.

Today,the farmers are growing only two varieties of strawberry,the chandler and the sweet charlie. Chandler is a dessert-quality fruit with a bright colour and flavour,with a high resistance to damages by rain. This variety is the more common one locally because of its adaptability to the climate. Sweet charlie,on the other hand,is a variety that grows well under a full sun and need moist,well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. All these requirements are met at Daab. Also,the farmers here use organic manure,hence the yield is rich in colour and taste, says Kamble.

Mhale says the cultivation season of strawberries begins in September and ends in March. Since the village has no regular power supply,drip irrigation is not in practice. Thus,only farmers whose lands are near the water sources are growing strawberries. This year,the total production of strawberries from Daab is expected to be around 108 quintals.

First we will try to sell the yield in Akkalkua and Molgi markets. Since the production is higher this time than previously,we might sell it in the Nandurbar and Shahda district markets also, says Mhale.

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On an average,the cost of cultivation comes to around Rs 4 lakh per acre,and every acre returns the farmer over Rs 6 lakh. So the farmer is able to earn around Rs 2 lakhs per acre per year,sometimes even more than that,through strawberries, says Kamble.