India: Pomegranate Production, Exports Hit By Blight.

Pomegranate production in the state and its exports to Europe have consistently gone down during the last two years due to the incidence of a disease called bacterial blight. However, better export prices due to the shortage of the fruit in the market have resulted in higher realisation. About 60-70 per cent of the country's pomegranate exports are from Maharashtra. In 2007-08, 35,000 metric tonnes of the fruit was exported from the country, while the figure went down to 34,800 metric tonnes in 2008-2009, and further dropped to 33,400 metric tonnes in 2009-2010. Statistics from the National Research Centre on Pomegranates (NRCP), under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, in Solapur, say that the state produced a total of 5.96 lakh metric tonnes of pomegranate in 2007-08, 5.5 lakh metric tonnes in 2008-2009 and 5.55 lakh metric tonnes in 2009-2010.

This decrease is despite the fact that the area under cultivation went up during the period. According to Vilas Tejrao Jadhav, director of the NRCP, the area under pomegranates in Maharashtra was 96,500 hectares in 2007-08, 82,000 hectares in 2008-09 and 98,900 hectares in 2009-10. Sources in the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) revealed that though the export volume has gone down during the past two years, its realisation has increased due to higher export prices. "The revenue was Rs 91.19 crore in 2007-08, Rs 114.61 crore in 2008-09 and Rs 119.42 crore in 2009-10. Acute shortage of good quality fruit due to the incidence of bacterial blight has increased the prices in domestic and export markets," an official from the MSAMB said. Ashok Taware, a pomegranate grower in Baramati, has over 50 acres of land under pomegranate cultivation. "Till 2010, the production came down by 80 per cent due to bacterial blight alone, leading to financial losses of almost Rs 2 crore. The disease has infected pomegranate cultivation, and subsequently its supply to the market, to such an extent that the fruit's domestic and export price is now over Rs 200/kg, as compared to Rs 80-100/kg two years ago," said Taware.

The major pomegranate growing regions in the state are Solapur, Nashik, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Pune. Despite the measures recommended by agricultural universities and research centres to control the disease, there has been little improvement at the farm level, say experts. The NRCP was founded in September 2005 to guide pomegranate growers in production in face of the large scale occurrence of bacterial blight in Maharashtra. According to Jadhav said, "There has been a heavy incidence of this disease since 2005. The bacteria 'xanthomonas'spreads in the area through rain splashes. Droplets of water lift the bacteria from plant surfaces and carry it to other plants." "The research centre had introduced a comprehensive package to control this disease, with suggestions of using sprays recommended by ICAR and crop sanitation, which involves cutting off and burning infected plants," added Jadhav.

However, Prabhakar Chandane, president of the Pomegranate Growers Association, said that the package was of little help at the farm level. "It was a preventive package, and not one to cure the fast-spreading disease. Production has fallen by about 80 per cent during the last three years and 30,000 hectares of pomegranate cultivation have been uprooted by farmers in the state. The fruit that is now coming into the market is of bad quality, as crops are exposed to excess sunlight," said Chandane. Meanwhile, the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri, has developed a package involving soil-based nutrition management which helps pomegranate plants fight bacterial blight. "The package recommends preventive measures, as curative measures do not work against the disease. The package helped in gaining 95 per cent control of the bacteria in Nashik in 2010-11," said Vinay Supe, horticulturist, AICRP on arid zone fruits, MPKV.

Source : freshplaza.com