Sweet taste of success

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Garima Mishra: Nandurbar, Mar 08 2013, 03:34 IST

Around half a decade ago, five farmers of Daab village of Nandurbar district began planting strawberries on half an acre each. It was then an experiment. The yield was so impressive that the farmers, who till then had been growing traditional crops such as maize, barley, vegetables and pulses, were encouraged enough to replicate the strawberry effort on their farms. The numbers kept increasing, and today as many as 87 farmers of Daab are growing strawberry on a total 40 acres.

It began with the district agriculture department taking 15 farmers of Daab to Surgana taluka in Nashik district on an agricultural education programme five years ago. “Like Mahabaleshwar, Surgana is also famous for strawberry plantation. There, our farmers were given a demonstration about this,” says Rattilal Sitaram Mhale, taluka agriculture officer; Daab village comes under Akkalkua taluka.

“That is where we learnt that the climate of Daab is similar to that of Surgana and Mahabaleshwar, two places in Maharashtra that are very popular for their strawberries,” Mhale says.

Twenty mother plants were brought from Surgana and planted in Daab. The plants had a healthy growth. “Strawberry grows well under temperate climate of 15 to 34 degrees. Even the soil of this village is well-drained, which complements the growth of strawberries, an exotic fruit,” says Ashok Maruti Kamble, district superintendent agriculture officer, Nandurbar.

Today, the farmers are growing only two varieties of strawberry, the chandler and the sweet charlie. Chandler is a dessert-quality fruit with a bright colour and flavour, with a high resistance

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