Grape export suffers loss of Rs 250 crore.

Export of grapes, mainly from the state, suffered a loss of Rs 250 crore after the European Union countries refused to accept the consignments due to chemical residue.

The rejected grapes were later accepted by a few other countries at an extremely low price. Grape exporters from Maharashtra, especially from Nashik, Pune and Sangli, which are major grape growing and exporting districts in the state suffered the losses.

The European Union countries revised their import norms for chemical residue in grapes in December last year, which were not communicated to grape exporters, who came to know about the changed norms only when their containers were stopped at various ports in Europe.

Jagannath Khapare, chairman of Grape Exporters Association (GEA), said, "The state exported 46,628.46 tonnes of grapes in 3,750 containers. The first 700 to 800 containers were accepted by the UK and Russia and received better prices. The remaining grapes were sold at an average price of four euro per kilo. The importers chose to sell grapes at such lower prices to control the damage."

Major importers of grapes, like The Netherlands and Germany, had refused to accept the fruit after the chemical was detected.

Khapare said, "A proposal demanding compensation to cover the Rs 250 crore loss has been sent to the state as well as the Union government. Besides Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also grow and export grapes. Since the volume of these states are small, Maharashtra had to raise the issue with the Union government."

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar also belongs to the state and is well aware of the situation. The exporters will also strongly push the matter in Delhi, he added.

The rejected grapes had a residue of chlormequat chloride (CCC), a growth hormone being used for many years by grape growers in India. "The CCC is not a banned growth hormone and hence the containers should not have barred from entering the market," Khapare said. He pointed out that as per the new norms, 0.05 milligram per kilogram is the new permissible residue level for farmers exporting to EU countries as against the earlier limit of 1.6 mg per kg.

Some of the exporters who have registered their produce with the state-owned Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd are likely to get 90 per cent of the value of their declared produce with the corporation. According to the officials, a farmer or exporter has to pay the premium and register the produce with the corporation before export.

After the grape crisis, the corporation is gathering information on the total number of registrations and their value, said the official.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com