Strawberry farming making waves in tribal heartland of Odisha 

The rugged Sunabeda plateau, 3,000 toes above sea degree, alongside the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, has at all times been troublesome terrain to traverse, however for Yuvraj Chhatria, it’s only a half of his journey. The 30-km experience from the highest of the plateau to the plains in the Nuapada district of Odisha and the next gruelling 550-km bus journey down bumpy roads to Bhubaneswar, situated close to the coast, would depart anybody exhausted.

Despite the bodily calls for of this journey, Mr. Chhatria, a member of the Chuktia Bhunjia tribe, one of the significantly weak tribal teams (PVTGs), has a smile on his face. He has introduced with him a recent harvest of strawberries, and the fruit is promoting out. He counts his money in hand – at ₹37,500 for 1.5 quintals, that is the very best single-day revenue he has ever made. He hopes to witness one other bumper sale over the subsequent two days on the Adivasi Mela 2023.

The strawberry harvest has triggered a celebration in the homes of 10 farmers who stay in one of the 56 villages in the tropical deciduous forest of the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary. The farmers, who from April to October plant paddy, had been initiated into strawberry cultivation in November 2022.

“I had never heard about strawberries before. The government officers persuaded us to take up this new kind of farming, and we went for it. The government supplied saplings and gave us financial assistance to dig a borewell,” says Mr. Chhatria, including that every household has been given 10 acres, and 20,000 saplings planted on every acre. The horticulture division was roped in for mulching and drip irrigation. Farmers took loans from ladies’s self-help teams (SHGs) to fund the labour element. Mr. Chhatria took a mortgage of ₹2 lakh.

He and his father have grown the fruit on 2.5 acres of land, incomes ₹4.2 lakh up to now. They hope it can contact ₹9 lakh by March finish. This is an surprising return from any crop in the area that sends a really excessive share of migrant labours to different States.

Tribal ladies busy working on the strawberry farms in Sunabeda. Photo: Special Arrangement

Tribe’s triumph

Most individuals in Sunabeda are from the Chuktia Bhunjia tribe, one of 13 PVTGs discovered in Odisha. They got the requisite coaching by the Nuapada district administration and the Chuktia Bhunjia Development Agency (CBDA), established in 1994-95 by the State authorities to work for the event of the tribe, particularly in livelihood programmes.

“A CBDA team had gone to Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, which accounts for 80% of India’s strawberry production. We found that the altitude and climate there are similar to that of Sunabeda. In fact, the soil quality of Sunabeda is better,” says CBDA Special Officer Himansu Mohapatra, who was a component of the group. He provides that the saplings supplied had been from Mahabaleshwar. In winter, the utmost daytime temperature of Sunabeda stays at round 25 diploma Celsius and at night time it drops to 10 diploma Celsius, making it excellent for strawberry cultivation.

“Fruits have been harvested and marketed within 40 days. It is heartening that the strawberry plants have continuous fruiting. There are 10 to 15 fruits in different stages and shapes on one plant,” says Mr. Mohapatra.

Farmers Kaliram Suanr and his spouse, Gangabai, are capable of decide greater than 45 kg of strawberries day by day. Women work the land and have a tendency to the crops, and are concerned from irrigation to reap. “In mid-December 2022, when the first strawberry turned red, we were delighted. We first offered it to our deity Maa Sunadei,” says Ms. Suanr, who begins her day at 5 a.m. choosing strawberries, earlier than she will get into house responsibilities after 10 a.m. Mr. Suanr then takes the harvest to market.

Marketing technique

This just isn’t the primary time strawberry farming has been experimented with in Odisha. The follow had a good bit of success when it was launched in 2021 in the Kotia gram panchayat in the southern Koraput district, a component of the Eastern Ghats, located at an analogous altitude to Sunabeda, and with an analogous local weather. The space, the jurisdiction of which is claimed by each the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh governments, has seen an enormous influx of authorities funds over the past 4 years. Now, the cultivation has unfold to twenty acres with seven ladies’s SHGs concerned.

Tribal ladies busy working on the strawberry farms in Sunabeda. Photo: Special Arrangement

“Farmers have started to develop strawberry saplings. The initial investment in land development had been made. The profit is likely to swell next season,” stated Kashi Prasad Nayak, district programme coordinator with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Koraput.

In Daringbadi of Kandhamal district, once more at an analogous altitude, a farmer was persuaded to take up strawberry farming. Kailash Dandapat, who works with Jagruti, a not-for-profit organisation in the surroundings, meals, and farming area, says, “The exotic fruit was introduced in Daringbadi in two acres of land in the winter of 2022. As the place attracts tourists from all over the State and outside during this time, the strawberries found their customers easily. From the two acres, the cultivator has already earned a net profit of ₹1 lakh,” he says.

The euphoria is tinged with doubt although. Mr. Dandapat predicts that strawberries will get wider acceptance amongst tribal farmers, however is apprehensive concerning the lack of sturdy advertising and marketing linkages, which might puncture ballooning hopes in the long term.

This is echoed by the farmers. “As a PVTG, our exposure to the outer world is limited compared to other communities. We jumped into growing strawberries after being motivated by government officials. But after its harvest, we find it difficult to market,” says Biju Jhankar, a farmer in Sanbaheli village of Sunabeda, admitting that returns on the crop had been greater than some other farm product they’ve offered up to now. Tribals additionally faucet honey from the forest to promote in the market.

The CBDA particular officer stated the federal government was making an effort to construct market linkages with huge grocery retailer chains working in the State. The authorities can be anticipating huge enlargement of strawberry farming in districts equivalent to Gajapati, Malkangiri, Rayagada, and Kalahandi, the place there are related climate situations.