ગુજરાતી
English
Gandhinagar, 5 April 2021
Farmers have been cultivating delicate fruit strawberries near Saputara in Gujarat for 23 years. Cultivation started in Sombhai Jiparibhai Pawar 9574278441. Somabhai of Lahndabas village in Ahwa, Dang, has 8 hectares of land. He would probably be the first farmer in Gujarat to cultivate strawberries.
Strawberries are heart-shaped fruits. Has a delicate, mild and sour-sweet taste. There are 600 varieties of strawberries in the world. All differ from each other in the color form of their taste. Strawberries are known for their distinctive aroma. Used in ice cream etc.
Gujarat produces 20 lakh tonnes of fruit in 4.46 lakh hectares. Apart from the 13 important fruits, other fruits include strawberries. All other fruits yield 46 thousand tonnes in 6170 hectares. Strawberry is one of them. According to the Agriculture Department, Gujarat does not cultivate more than 500 hectares of strawberries.
Sombhai Jiparibhai Pawar has taught many farmers to cultivate strawberries. For 10 years he kept persuading other farmers to do farming but no one agreed. Then slowly farmers started farming. Around 48 farmers cultivate strawberries around their village. Strawberry cultivation has increased since the government subsidized it online.
Sombhai Jiparibhai Pawar went to Maharashtra Mahabaleshwar for work and learned farming from there. In the first year, he brought the rope and made 9 laps in which he made a profit of Rs 11,000. In the second year, cultivation increased and profit was 1.9 lakhs.
Somabhai says that farming is profitable. Due to Corona, the goods have deteriorated since last year. There were strawberries in 40 Veigha. This year, both the weather and the corona have been poor. Therefore production will decrease.
Sombhai Jiparibhai Pawar said, “I have to go to Surat city for 23 years to sell strawberries.” The fruit is not sold directly after the lockout. The fruit barely lasts till the evening then spoils. Therefore goods have to be sent to Nashik.
One and a half kilos of strawberries descend in a plant.
260-250 Rs. Sold at the cost of one kg. A bigha has a profit of 2 lakh rupees. The profit per hectare is Rs 10 lakh. But due to the fragility of the fruit, it can cause a lot of damage to the crop.
In 2014-15, revenue was 2.32 lakhs against the expenditure of 1.09 lakhs. The profit was 1.22 lakhs. Profit was Rs 1.47 lakh in 2015-16 and Rs 1.82 lakh in 2016-17.
Somabhai says that this year I have prepared 18 thousand plants. It was decided to plant 40 to 45 thousand saplings. Those are given Junagadh, Navsari, Kutch, Rajkot, Kaprada, Jamnagar. Goods have been given in this area but no products like Saputara are available. Elsewhere the goods become weak, the fruit becomes small. The diseases are more.
The runner prepares the transplant. One plant is worth Rs. The cost of tissue culture is Rs 42 per plant. Companies have to place orders to make tissue production in tissue culture is good, but sometimes all the ropes are wasted at once.
A new Himachal strawberry called Akihim is doing well for the farmers. 35 to 40 thousand saplings can be planted in one and a half acres. Fruits weigh 22 to 40 grams. Which is 15 to 30 grams in the second win.
