Strawberry sweetens deal for Maharashtra farmers

The Kazi family of Mumbai heads off to their favourite getaway every February for a break. That’s the time sweet, delicious strawberries are in season. Enough to double the fun, isn’t it?

“We visit Mahabaleshwar with our two daughters when the strawberry harvest is at its peak,” said Zainab Kazi, 41. 

“We have been doing it for years,” said husband Sajid, excited about a short trip to the hill station twins of Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar, 290 km east of the Maharashtra capital.

The region grows more than 85% of India’s strawberries. Roads in the area are festooned with billboards bright with advertisements for the fruit. Roadside halts offer blush pink ice cream and milkshakes, or locally-bottled jams and strawberry syrup. And, of course, there’s strawberry served with fresh cream, a feast synonymous with Wimbledon. 

On the drive back home, chances are little that the Kazis would not pack their car’s trunk with several boxes of fresh fruit as well as jams, jelly toffees, syrup and dehydrated strawberry powder. Mementoes from their family vacation, reminders of the good time.

Many people come to these rolling hills of the Western Ghats to relish the fruit while admiring the scenery and the temperate weather between November and early April. For first-time visitors, the Beatles would best describe the experience: “Strawberry fields forever.”

The hills are alive with strawberry fields 

India’s gastronomical plates are loaded with ingredients from across the globe — potato and tomato originated in South America, to name a couple of staples. During their rule, the British grew strawberries in India, driven by nostalgia for the fruit and because the delicate berry couldn’t withstand the mid-19th century sea crossing. 

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The climate of Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar and the gently sloping, terraced land in the area was ideal for the European summer fruit. But the strawberry had to wait another century to flourish as a cash crop in India. The wait turned out to be fruitful.

Strawberry production in India saw something of a revolution in 1992, when Balasaheb Bhilare of Bhilar village in Satara district of Maharashtra imported seedlings of the Chandler variety from California. Soon enough, Bhilar became the hub of strawberry farming. In 2010, Mahabaleshwar strawberries got the geographical indication tag, a sign seen as a guarantee of authenticity. 

By the time Bhilare died in November 2021, more than 5,000 families in Mahabaleshwar were growing the fruit on 4,000 hectares. Total annual production had risen to 35,000 tonnes. 

The fruit with seeds on its body

“As much as 60 percent of the DNA present in strawberries is also found in humans,” Pune-based botanist and water conservationist Ajit Gokhale said. “Strawberries wear their seeds on their bodies. The ripe, red, fleshy part that we think of as the strawberry ‘fruit’ is actually the swollen receptacle tissue – the part of the plant that connects the flower to the stem.”

It’s a winter fruit in India. Every June, three major growers’ groups import mother saplings from California, Italy, Spain and Egypt, and  plant them in nurseries at Wai, located 32 km from Mahabaleshwar. The runners produced by each of these saplings are replanted in the farm in September. The harvest begins in November and lasts till the second week of April.

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“The Chandler and Sweet Charlie are the top varieties, followed by Camarosa, Winter Dawn, Rania and Nabila,” said Nitin Bhilare, 52, a former sailor and son of Balasaheb Bhilare. 

The luscious flavour of the Mahabaleshwar strawberries comes from the dry weather, temperature that hovers in the range of 18-25 degrees Celsius and the fertile iron-rich red soil. Laid on the hillslopes, the farms span no more than an acre and rotation farming is encouraged for better yields. 

About 25,000 seedlings that cost around Rs 2.50 lakh can be planted on each acre. 

“A harvest from late September and early October can fetch up to Rs 500 a kg. As the season tapers off, the price drops to Rs 100,” said Krishna Dagdu Kadam, a farmer from Parut, a  village located 12 km from Mahabaleshwar town. 

To keep its unique identity intact, Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani strawberry growers are turning to technology. 

“By 2024, all strawberries originating from here will carry QR code stickers on boxes,” said Nitin Bhilare.

Mahabaleshwar’s monopoly challenged

Strawberries are not easy to grow as farmers need sunny, dry weather with periodic rain. 

But now many places in Maharashtra are challenging Mahabaleshwar’s reign. 

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Like Chetan Sohoni and his brother Akash who planted 16,000 seedlings last August on their single-acre farm in Kondri village, 70 km from Pune, and harvested around 100 kg a day in October and November.

Or like Eshwar Pawar, 28, of Ware in Dindori Taluka of Nashik, a place known for its vineyards. The sight of strawberries sold on the Nashik-Saputara road is a novelty. It all began when Pawar planted 4,000 seedlings of the Winter Dawn variety at Rs 10 apiece in August 2016. 

“The harvest lasted till early April,” he said. 

The returns: Rs 10 lakh. 

He now sells around 20,000 kg a day during the peak season. Inspired by his success, many have jumped into the fray. Pawar’s patrons are mostly from Gujarat, which is closer home, but he feels the absence of a cold storage is pegging him down. 

“My strawberries are sweet and sour, unlike the sweet Mahabaleshwar berry,” he said. 

In Nanded, 25-year-old Balaji Upwar of Barad village began growing the fruit on a quarter-acre plot in 2021. He earned Rs 2.50 lakh. He has since expanded the crop to eight acres. 

There’s nothing as sweet as success, is there?

STRAWBERRY NUGGETS

*Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. To save you from counting, here is the data: The average strawberry wears about 200 seeds.

*Strawberries are not technically a berry. They’re considered an “aggregate fruit.” 

*Strawberries have a high water content which makes them low in calories. Like most fruits, they’re high in fibre and are a great source of vitamin C, plus they’re packed with antioxidants.

*Strawberries are delicate and develop mould fast if not stored properly. Avoid washing strawberries until you’re ready to eat them. Leave the stems on, as this extends their life.

* Strawberries and cream are almost as famous at Wimbledon as the tennis. But no one seems to know when strawberries started being served with cream, though some accounts say the tradition began at the court of Henry VIII where cooks often had to prepare meals for 1,000 people or more, and poured cream on strawberries as a quick option.

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The lead image at the top shows a tub full of soft red strawberries (Photo by Hiren Kumar Bose)

Hiren Kumar Bose is a journalist based in Thane, Maharashtra. He doubles up as a weekend farmer.