In a couple of years, you will be able to buy from your local mall wine made from mango, banana, cashew apple, Indian blueberry and blackberry.
The state’s wine sector will soon start producing quality wine from an array of commonly grown fruits. In a couple of years, you will be able to buy from your local mall wine made from mango, banana, cashew apple, Indian blueberry and blackberry.
The Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli (Ratnagiri), has successfully processed wine from cashew apples, mangoes, blueberries (karvand) and blackberries (jamun).
And unlike the costlier and water-guzzling grapes, which need to be grown every year, these fruits are readily available across the state. Dr Vijay Mehta, vice-chancellor of Dapoli Agriculture University, said processing would help curb the phenomenal crop wastage. Around 95% of the 6-lakh tonne cashew apples, 7-lakh tonne blueberry and tonnes of mangoes go to waste unprocessed annually, he said.
Mehta said wine processors and farmers will get rich economic dividends because of fruit processing. “We can have a network of cottage wineries. Farmers can ferment the juice on their farms and the processor can collect it and market it under a brand name.”
A team of agricultural scientists, horticulturists and processors worked for the last few years in Dapoli University to standardise the wine extraction technology. The university has an 80-litre winery at Dapoli, and wine tasters have given their nod for the commercial launch of the new varieties.
“A lot of top wineries and brands are evincing interest in our products but we cannot transfer the technology yet,” Mehta said. “We’ve to make sure all varieties of wine stand up to the stabilisation tests.”
The news of wine from other fruits comes at a time when the 58 grape wineries in north and western Maharashtra are in crisis due to a drop in demand, with most brands dishonouring contracts with grape growers. Currently, wineries in the state produce over 2.11 crore litres of grape wine — 97% of the total wine production in India. Most of the demand for grape wine comes from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Goa.
The wine industry in Maharashtra grew by almost 33% in 2007-08 compared to the previous year. The total investment in the sector has grown four times over the last five years, from Rs77.75 crore in 2004 to Rs328.97 crore in 2008.
What marks a shift in wine sector today is the processing from a wide array of fruits. In Jalgaon, local MP Haribhau Jawale last month launched a banana winery at Piprud in Yawal tehsil, which is expected to go full steam in four months. Two farmers from Katol in Nagpur district have also succeeded in making wine from oranges (branded as Mandarin Magic). But given the abysmal production of the fruit and the absence of a market survey, it is yet to become a commercial reality.
Dapoli University scientists, who are in the process of patenting their products, say wine from cashew apple, blueberry and mangoes are better in anti-oxidants and nutritional value. More importantly, they will be lighter on the purse. And cheers to that!
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}