HOW NASHIK BECAME INDIA'S GRAPE CAPITAL

The district's prodigious farmers ship their produce to every corner of India and the world

- Sayantan Bera

Arsha Suresh Boraste was in her early twenties when her husband died in a road accident. The newly married bride turned widow was left with a three-month-old toddler and a tiny farm plot, just about two acres, in rural Maharashtra. But the burden of raising a family as a single mother on a meagre farm income did not crush her spirits. Boraste raised her child, built a new house, grew her farm holdings fivefold, and now travels in a sedan. She is a member of the rural elite, earning ten times the per capita income of India's richest state, Maharashtra. All thanks to an unlikely ally: table grapes.

Table grape growers are far more affluent than the average Indian farmer. For instance, in a good crop year, when adverse weather or market conditions do not play spoilsport, Boraste earns anywhere between ₹25-30 lakh, after paying for cultivation costs. That's about 16 times the annual average income of a farm household in India. "It takes hard work and a lot of care, but we owe our well-being to grapes," she said.

Grapes are a highly perishable but premium horticulture product. After an arduous journey spanning two decades, India is now counted among the top five exporters globally. You can spot Indian table grapes in global supermarkets, be it Tesco or Edeka in Europe or Choices Market in Canada, with farmers like Boraste catering to the exacting standards of fussy western buyers. The grapes supplied to Europe, for instance, have to be a certain size (berry size of 16-20 mm in diameter), be crisp and sweet (but not too sweet) besides meeting a long list of other quality parameters.