India: Strawberry farming to cut cost of fruit

In the Indian city of Ranchi strawberries are pricey and only available for a small window in the year between December and January. This may soon change however as the district Horticulture office is looking to popularize home grown strawberries, making them much more common and affordable.

District horticulture officer AK Mishra said, "We are preparing to start cultivating strawberries as a demonstration. We have identified an area of 1,000 sq metres in Ormanjhi for this purpose."

The department has invited expression of interest (EoI) from private agencies to begin strawberry cultivation. "The government will provide land and infrastructural facilities to the private agency which will in turn begin the cultivation," Mishra said.

The department plans to begin farming with the onset of winter this year. As the fruit becomes ready for harvesting in a span of four to five weeks of blossoming, it is most likely to appear in the markets by year end.

"If the demonstration is successful and the quality is good, we will expand the strawberry cultivation across the state and invite farmers to join in," Mishra said.

source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com