The first Indian grapes of the season are on the water and due to arrive in the UK next week.
Neil Denny of importer Richard Hochfeld reports a typically wet spring in the Hyderabad area. “They have had rains in early March, but that is not unseasonal,” he said. “It is not going to be a vintage year, but a lot of the facilities out there have been making a lot of investment and becoming modern and efficient. They are now in a good position to manage any problems at the packhouse and this season looks like it will be a good test of that.”
There is some mixed sizing which is indicative of a long flowering period and some incidence of scarring due to wind as well as prevalence of mealy-bug aphids due to the humidity which preceded the rainfall in late February.
The region is the second most important in terms of grape exports from India, and growers had been hoping for increased sendings this year, to the tune of some 3,000 tonnes. However, according to the region’s Andhra Pradesh Grape Growers’ Association, post-harvest management to ensure good condition of export volumes could see this reduced by up to 50 per cent to be more in line with last season’s volumes. Growers from the region have in the past tried to target the later window by pruning later, but the risk of higher rewards is that volumes may be reduced due to late rains.
