NEW DELHI: The All India Grape Exporters Association has forecast India’s table grape exports to hit 200,000 tonnes in the 2015/16 season, according to the Financial Express.
The Association’s president Jagannath Khapre told the local news site that harvesting is already underway in Nashik, in India’s Maharashtra region, though recent rains had caused cracking in some 10 per cent of the crop.
Khapre said he didn’t expect the rain damage to affect export volumes, with 60,000 tonnes forecast to be shipped to Europe.
The Netherlands remains India’s largest export market, followed by the UK and Germany.
“New markets are opening up to Indian grapes. Canada, Australia and Russia have shown their interests in grapes from India,” he said, adding that China was also growing as export markets for Indian grapes.
India’s table grape exports reached 152,647 tonnes in 2014, up 20.5 per cent on the previous year and accounting for 16.3 per cent of India’s total fresh fruit imports, according to data from the International Trade Centre.
