 A recent spell of hailstorm and rains in some parts of Maharashtra over the last three days has hit raisin producers hard. By: Nanda Kasabe | Pune | March 4, 2016 12:12 AM A recent spell of hailstorm and rains in some parts of Maharashtra over the last three days has hit raisin producers hard. Farmers in Sangli, one of the biggest raisin production centres in the state, are unhappy with the rains that have come at an inopportune time, when the raisins were in the process of being dried.
“This will definitely affect the overall quality of the raisins, which lose color due to the rains and as a result, the price gets affected as well,” Subhash Arve, president, Maharashtra State Grape Growers Association (MGGA), who looks after the Sangli region, said. Prices of raisins which were around Rs 200-250 per kg, have dropped almost 50% as the raisins are turning black, he said. Farmers are now getting just about Rs 70-80 per kg for their produce. Warehouses where the raisins were being dried have been damaged causing water to seep in, which reduces the sugar content of the product. Around 40,000 tonne of raisins were expected this season, but the impact will now have to be seen in the next few days, he said.
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 PHOTO: Farmer Max Emery says the quality of his raisins is good this year because he has had almost no issues with pests. (ABC Rural: Nathan Coates ) By Nathan Coates
Picking is underway at a commercial bush raisin farm 100km south-east of Alice Springs. Farmer Max Emery said recent storms had kicked things along, but the season had been slow to start. "We're having a strange run this year. We've had a very late flowering," Mr Emery said. "We are now starting to pick and we are getting about half a bucket per day, whereas normally we would have been picking three buckets a day by now."  The new crop of Fresh and juicy dates "Mazafati" is being harvested now.
According to main Dates farmers, current crop year (2015) is projected to see at least 20 percent drop. We expects farmers in Mozafati Dates area to see a crop yield of 75 to 80 percent. The shortage will cause trees to have larger fruits in comparison to previous crop year which indicates finer appearance of the goods which is more appealing to Dates customers globally. Naturally the shortage will lead to price increase in domestic and international markets and this will be a steady trend throughout the crop year. However it will not have direct impact on Sayer Dates which is main Dates variety exported out of Iran. #mozafati #mazafati #mazafatiDates  Raisins Crop news
At the present moment we are still harvesting and converting the grapes into raisins, all across the country from eastern regions of Ghochan all the way across to the west in Maragheh and Urumiyeh. Except for two reports of rainfall near Ghazvin area and eastern Azerbaijan which has caused some minor damages, the whole conversion process has been reported to be in a very good condition. The process is anticipated to be over all across the map within three weeks regardless of the region. The crop volume of raisins has been reported to be decent and above average in many areas except for the region of Hamedan (Located on west-side) which was hit by frost damages during wintertime. It is being forecasted that in total 10% increase in volume size in comparison to 2014 crop year and the total volume is estimated to reach 180,000 MT. Market outlook and anticipations: Raisins prices are likely to remain at the last year price levels which will give raisins and sultanas a great opportunity to compete with Turkish prices and claim bigger market share in North American and Australian Market. Processing facilities are waiting for the new crop raisins to hit the local market within two weeks from today so they can start the process and shipments, as up to this moment not much of bulk raw material has been offered to the market. Please stay Tuned for more updates and crop news. |
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