Grape yield down by 50% due to non-stop rain, Covid: Hopcoms

Hit by the pandemic and last year’s incessant rains, grape output in Karnataka has declined by 50%, officials said during the inauguration of the annual grape and watermelon mela here on Thursday.

According to the officials of Hopcoms, a prolonged wet weather hit the crop as farmers who reaped 15-20 tonnes of grapes per acre earlier could harvest only 7-8 tonnes this year. The pandemic disrupted the supply chains, resulting in heavy losses, officials said.

The mela has been organised by the Horticulture Department in association with Hopcoms. Around 13-15 varieties of grapes, including the new one — Jambu Sharad (seedless) — and 3-4 varieties of watermelon are selling at a 5% discount at all Hopcoms outlets.

“Sonaka, Krishna Sharad, Bangalore Blue are some of the popular grape varieties this year while Kiran and Namdhari varieties of watermelon are in demand. Kiran, especially, is liked by Bengalureans,” said Hopcoms president N Devaraj.

A majority of the grape yield this year has come from Vijayapura and Bagalkot while watermelon has arrived from across the state, except coastal and Malnad regions.

During the event, Chickpet MLA Uday Garudachar inaugurated the cold storage unit while Horticulture Minister Munirathna kick-started the mela. The minister said, “I have requested the chief minister to allot funds in the budget for setting up 100 cold storage units in the state. This would help farmers compete with private players.”