Thegrape productionin the district is likely to reduce by 20% to 9.5 lakh tonne due to the unseasonal rain, which has affected the ready-to-harvest vineyards and those which were in the flowering stages.
According toMaharashtraRajya Draksha Bagayatdar Sangh (MRDBS), an association of grape growers, the grape production ofNashikdistrict was 12 lakh tonne during the last grape season and around 1.29 lakh tonnes were exported to various European and non-European countries.
But the recent unseasonal rain has badly hit some of the vineyards in the district and the grape production is expected to reduce by 20%. The grape plantation in the district is estimated to be on around 1.50 lakh acre.
Of the 1.50 lakh acre, the plantation under wine grape varieties is 6,000 acre, while the remaining all plantations are under table grape varieties.