Fruit plantation area in Maharashtra goes up; exports and govt schemes boost growth
Pune: The area under fruit plantations in Maharashtra increased by 68,541 hectares, from 13.32 lakh hectares in the 2023-24 financial year to 14 lakh hectares in 2024-25, agriculture department officials said.
Mango, pomegranate, guava, lemon, custard apple, coconut and fig were among the fruits that significantly pushed the area under cultivation up, a senior official from the horticulture department said.
"Domestic and international markets hold good prospects for these fruits, which offer farmers a promise of good returns. State govt implemented several schemes to promote these varities and encourage farmers to switch to fruit cultivation," he added.
As per data, the highest plantations in 2024-25 were recorded in Nashik division at 5,141 hectares, followed by Amravati with 5,088 hectares and Pune with 4,287 hectares. "As many as 27,292 farmers across the state received financial assistance worth Rs9,891 lakh under the govt-sponsored Bhausaheb Fundkar Falbagh Lavgad Scheme in 2024-25," another official said.
Sanjay Kachole, district agriculture officer, Pune, said many farmers had earned lakhs of rupees in profits in the last few years as they could export their produce, especially banana, pomegranate and grapes, to Gulf and European countries.
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In April, about 14 tonnes of pomegranate from Ahilyanagar district were sent to New York for the first time through commercial sea shipment. The season, which traditionally saw air freight as the primary mode of transport, shifted gears in recent weeks to embrace the cost-effective and sustainable sea freight mode.
After India was granted market access by the US for pomegranate in 2023, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, in collaboration with the United States department of agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO-India), and National Research Centre for Pomegranate, Solapur, successfully conducted the trial shipment of pomegranate to the US by sea, officials said.
"These steps prove decisive for farmers as they are getting foreign markets to sell their fruits at higher rates. Therefore, the number of farmers switching to fruit plantations are rising in Maharashtra," an agriculture department official said.
This year, several farmers from Solapur exported banana to Gulf countries. "Private agencies have ventured into the agriculture export business. They are tapping farmers across the state," another official said.
State govt has also decided to develop dedicated agri export clusters in districts. "We have decided to set up five such clusters to promote the export of mango, grapes, pomegranate and orange," the official added.
Meanwhile, farmers and activists said govt needs to pay attention to the crop insurance for fruits. "Our losses are in lakhs of rupees, but state pays in thousands because it treats fruits at par with crops such as bajara, jowar, etc.
It has to be changed because the capital investment in fruit plantations is almost 10 times that of other crops and vegetables," said Jitendra Bidwai, president of Grapes Association Sangh of Junnar tehsil.
Govt does not provide financial assistance immediately to those growers who lost their harvest due to natural disasters, said activist Shantaram Sarvade from Khed tehsil. "As a result, several grapes and pomegranate growers in Solapur and Sangli districts had to kill their plantations in the past. This factor also needs to be considered by the authorities concerned."
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