 It was a barren rocky uneven land outside Pune city en route to Satara. One wondered if anything could be grown on such land, without much water.
Ravindra Navlaka, a progressive farmer of Pune, dispelled my doubts and showed me his success in raising pomegranate, guava, amla…
Of course, considerable effort has been spent in enriching the soil with a good combination of natural and chemical fertilizers.
Navlaka has been adapting several beneficial practices and focuses on fruits. He confirmed that operations have been fruitful.
Not far from that area and towards the city is another piece of land that appeared more fertile. Navlaka has raised in this a lush crop of banana and grapes.
Water availability is limited. Monsoon in this part is restricted from June to August. So farmers resort to drip irrigation and make optimum use of water. Liberal help is also accessed from the agricultural university and government department in updating on beneficial farm practices. Navlaka pointed to the advantage of pruning the buds in his vineyard that helped improve quality and productivity.
In 1990, Sharad Pawar utilised the employment guarantee scheme of the Maharashtra Government to expand massively the area under horticulture. This initiative has enabled Maharashtra to evolve as the largest producer of several fruits.
The state raises different fruits in different parts of Maharashtra suited to the agro-climatic and soil conditions. The Pune-Sholapur belt focuses on pomegranates; the Nagpur-Vidharba region on mandarin oranges; the Konkan region on mangoes; Pune-Nashik on grapes, Ahmednagar-Sholapur on ber; Ahmednagar-Pune on guavas; Jalgoan on Cavendish bananas; and Satara-Pune and Mahabaleshwar on strawberries.
S.G.Thopte, sub-divisional agri-cultural officer, Pune, said that with the rich experience gained in raising several of these crops, the business-oriented Maharashtra farmer has also been successful in taking to high- yielding varieties of tomato and potato. Presently, these are contract-farmed for large companies like PepsiCo. There is also a welcome focus on standardisation of the practices right from land preparation and selection of seeds that help the farmer produce to the specifications of the buyer.
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