Kandhamal Haldi is the famous brand of turmeric that has made this tribal dominated district in Odisha a household name in the state and beyond. This local haldi has even earned the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. With the successful branding of their turmeric, the people of the Kandhamal district are now setting their eyes on yet another branding and tagging – that of ‘Kandhamal Strawberry’.
Their strawberries are now much sought after in the state and people are lauding their quality and taste. Started as a trial project in December 2022, strawberry farming is now becoming hugely successful among the farmers of the district. More than 250 tribal Self Help Groups (SHGs) are doing strawberry farming and earning good profits.
The Kandhamal administration is giving all kinds of support to the SHGs, which include a large number of tribal women, to help them in the cultivation of strawberry and its marketing, which will help to enhance their livelihoods.
Indian Masterminds interacted with 2017 batch IAS officer Ashish Ishwar Patil, Collector of Kandhmal, to know more about the strawberry project.
KANDHAMAL STRAWBERRY
Between December-January 2022, the Kandhamal administration started a pilot project for strawberry cultivation, which achieved huge success. At that time, 10 farmers got together to cultivate strawberries in about 2 acres of land, out of which, strawberries worth around Rs. 22 lakh were produced. The farmers got a profit of around Rs. 12 lakh. Seeing the success, the administration decided to take this scheme forward.
Between October-November, 2023, six places were selected for further cultivation of strawberry in six blocks of the district, which included Phulbani, Balliguda, K. Nuagaon, Daringbadi, Raikia, etc. In 10 select fields in these 6 places covering 30 acre, farmers started strawberry cultivation. District level funds were distributed to the SHGs by the administration, 5 lakhs each, for input subsidy and purchasing of plants. Apart from it, each SHG took 5 lakhs loan under the Odisha Livelihood Mission, with the support of the administration. Plants were purchased from Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.
Experts from the horticulture department of Odisha and Maharashtra provided training to the SHGs on cultivation and soil testing.
All the SHGs consisted mostly of local tribals. They were given training in marketing too.
Mr. Patil said, “Along with cultivation training, we are also providing them marketing support. We are helping them in marketing through our government societies like Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM) and Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS). At the same time, we have many producer companies and FPOs, which market the products of these SHGs in big stores.”
TRAINING
The district administration first sent its own team to Mahabaleshwar, for training. After this, soil testing was done and places with suitable climate were selected, and farming started.
The administration kept providing training to the farmers from time to time in various places.
CLIMATE
For strawberry cultivation, a special environment is required. The fruit requires hilly environment and cold climate. But, at the same time, sunlight should also be sufficient and the soil should be suitable. That is why, soil testing is very important for its farming.
BENEFITS
The strawberry season has just started, but already 25 lakh worth of strawberries have been sold. About 2 quintal of strawberries are being produced every day in the district.
Mr. Patil said, “Right now, our production is increasing every day due to flowering. Currently, it is being sold locally only. Mostly, the tourists buy it. Apart from this, some are sent to nearby cities and big stores. In the future, we will send it outside also.”
A SHG member said that they sell the fruit in the open market for Rs. 500 to Rs. 600 a kg.
MORE PLANS
After seeing the huge success of this project, the district administration is now planning various works like fruit processing etc.
According to Mr. Patil, production is increasing as per their expectations. Hence, training for processing is also being started from today. Apart from processing, training for squash, juice, dried strawberry has also been started. “There will be no wastage of the fruit. By preserving it well, we can keep selling it for a longer period. This will increase its self-life too. After turmeric, now it’s strawberry time!” Mr. Patil said in conclusion.
