High Rejection Rate May Hit Grape Exports.

PUNE: On account of higher rejection rate of grape samples at the beginning of the export season, grape export this year might be affected to a large extent. Almost 30 per cent of the 1,056 grape samples taken from various farms have been rejected by the government recommended laboratories on grounds of higher chemical residue than the prescribed amount, said Pandurang Watharkar, director (processing and planning), department of agriculture.

He said, "Several samples are taken from a farm and registered with 'grapenet' - a network developed by the union government for speedy processing of export related documents and to help trace the produce. The number of permitted chemicals and their permissible usage ratio has also been revised by the European Union (EU) countries. As against the 90 chemicals listed in the previous year, the number this year has increased to 172 chemicals. The rejected samples may have had higher residue of chemicals."

When one sample from a farm is rejected, the entire registered farm gets disqualified for exports. Generally, these grapes are then either exported to gulf countries (west Asia) or sold in the domestic market, Watharkar said.

This year, registration of farms for export has gone up from 14,790 farms in 2009 to 15,757 farms in 2010. December 31 was the last date for registration and export begins from February and continues till April.

Watharkar said, "The higher number of rejected samples has also brought down the overall grape export to EU countries. In India, Maharashtra is the largest grower and exporter of grapes. We have exported 237 containers of grape so far to EU countries, each containing 15 tonnes of grapes. Last year, we had exported 600 containers during the same period. We are hoping that there will be no more rejection of samples."

Out of 261 containers, 161 containers were exported to the Netherlands, 41 to UK, 14 each to Belgium and Sweden and to other countries, he said.

Among the top growers, Nashik and Sangli districts have continued their dominance. Out of 15,757 registered farms, 12,985 are from Nashik district alone, followed by 948 from Sangli, 534 from Pune, 453 from Latur, 320 from Satara, 200 from Ahmednagar, 162 from Solapur, 120 from Osmanabad and two from Beed districts of Maharashtra.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com