Winery in dry Gujarat

Date with Gujarat’s first winery soon!

Kutch Farmers Plan SEZ Unit Using Dates

Nayan Dave | TNN 

July 13, 2011

Ahmedabad: Farmers in the driest part of Gujarat are thinking out of the prohibited box. Progressive peasants from Kutch plan to set up a winery using part of the border district’s produce of over 1.50 lakh tonnes dates every year.
    “We want to create our own brand. We have tied up with Nashik-based Gargi Agriculture Research and Training Institute (GARTI) for technology,” said Gopal Gorasia, a date palm grower. He, along with fellow farmers Rahul Gala and Chhabil Patel, plan to invest Rs 3 crore in the winery project. This date wine would not be sold in Gujarat, which practises the prohibition policy. The state does not even allow wineries. So, these farmers are in talks with a leading special economic zone to set up the unit. The prohibition laws would not apply here and the product, like all other goods produced in an SEZ, would be entirely for exports.
“Kutchi dates are fit for wine-making,” says Rajan Bachhao, chairman of GARTI, which is affiliated to Pune University and imparts education in wine, brewing and distillation in association with The Scandinavian School of Brewing.A 10-member team of senior faculty and students have studied for four months the viability of making date wine in Kutch. “Winery project near the date growing belt would be economically viable. Looking at the quality and taste, proper branding of the product may work wonders for date growers in Kutch,” says Bachhao.
    Gorasia says a winery with a capacity of 5 lakh litres per annum would require just one acre of land. “We are in the process of identifying a suitable piece of land in an SEZ,” he says.
    Date growers say they lose nearly 25% of yield during transportation. Besides, they get just about three months to sell. “A neighbourhood winery would add value to our yield and a near zero crop loss,” says Gorasia.
    “Winery would create direct employment opportunities for 500 people. Such value addition would double the income of date growers in the region,” says Patel, a former MLA of Mandvi constituency.
    Kutch grows ‘Barhi’ variety of Iraqi palm, with the help of Israeli technology. In the past few years, the number of ‘Barhi’ plants have increased from 30,000 to over 1 lakh, says district agriculture officer, SK Modh. 
KUTCH’S CATCH 
Kutch produces 1.5L tonne dates annually, part of which will be used for winery
Date wine only for export, keeping in mind state’s prohibition policy
Farmers say move will lead to near zero crop loss