This isn't a strobbery

Its a forbidden fruit in Indiahellipunless you are in the hilly slopes of Mahabaleshwar Not many outside would dare grow the red succulent strawberries a few years ago Naturally so This seasonal American fruit requires temperate climate to thrive and isnrsquot happy in subtropical India Law graduate Gurleen Chawla however has challenged the traditionJhansibased Chawla 23 was one among many whose American dream was cut short when the Coronavirus pandemic hit With a law degree from Pune she was to fly to the States but the grants were stopped and visa procedures closed She returned to her home in Bundelkhand ldquoTwo days before the nationwide lockdown in abundant spare time I noticed that my parents had started growing strawberries on our terrace garden After harvesting when I tried the first batch of the fruit it tasted goodrdquo Chawla recallsGurleen Chawla is known to have started a strawberry revolution in Jhansi after she first attempted to grow the fruit in Bundelkhand She also found a mention in the Prime Ministerrsquos latest Mann Ki Baat episodeA few weeks later she convinced her father to lend her the 15 acre vacant land close to home ldquoI took help from organic farming consultants some even came down to do a soil test Jhansi is a waterparched region Strawberries require very little water to grow and that worked for merdquoProducing them in hotter climate conditions was a risk Chawla was willing to take Strawberry requires a welldrained medium loam soil rich in organic matter The soil should be slightly acidic with pH from 57 to 65 At higher pH root the formation is poor The presence of excessive calcium in the soil causes yellowing of the leaves In light soil and in those rich in organic matter runner formation is better After bringing in seedlings from Mahabaleshwar Chawla planted them amid temperatures fluctuating between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius in November last year On December 25 the first batch of fruit was ready ldquoIt was surreal I didnrsquot think I could do it We were very cautious at the start when watering them I think making every fruit survive was our biggest challenge They tasted delicious just like in Mahabaleshwarrdquo she addsBansri Shah owns a threeacre land in Mahabaleshwar where she grows strawberries among other fruits The lockdown however affected her businessToday Chawla has about 20000 plants and plucks 70 to 80 kg strawberries per day ldquoBut I sell them at a very low cost People in Jhansi still think they are litchis the concept of growing or even eating strawberries is alien When popularity grew I started Jhansi Organics an online portal from where you can order the fruit and get it delivered across JhansirdquoChawla even started a monthlong strawberry festival in association with the Uttar Pradesh government UP CM Yogi Adityanath felicitated her for starting a ldquostrawberry revolutionrdquo in Bundelkhand Her efforts found mention in the Prime Minister Narendra Modirsquos recent Mann Ki Baat episodeShah is trying the hydroponic farming method to grow the fruit at her Walkeshwar home basementThere are many like Chawla who are taking the plunge in oddball parts of the country Shashidhar Chikkappa Goravar 45 is a progressive farmer based in Dharwad district of Karnataka The visually arresting farm he built in 2019 in Hullambi village is covered with green foliage and the redcoloured fruit After training at farms in Mahabaleshwar he returned home with organic plant stimulants and topquality fertilizers ldquoThere were lows and highs I experimented a lot with the soil Today I have over 30000 plants in my farm I grow them in one planting cycle from September to December This is when the climate in Dharwad is slightly pleasant in the night it touches 13 degrees Celsius if we are lucky The demand for my produce is obviously not as much as it is for those grown in Mahabaleshwar but I am happyrdquo adds Goravar adds who plans to open a training institute to popularise berry farming in DharwadIn the 1920s this goodlooking red fruit took Mahabaleshwar by storm Mahabaleshwar was the perfect summer getaway for the Bombay province during the British Raj Located 120 km from Pune and 250 km from Mumbai this resort town situated on a plateau is where the British Governor enjoyed staying once a year Labourers grew strawberries on farmlands and after the British left the locals took interest in the fruit In 1992 came a strawberry revolution ldquoThe then Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar visited the hill station and heard the farmersrsquo woes We knew how to grow the fruit but didnrsquot have saplings So he ordered about 25000 from California and strawberry farming started gaining ground Earlier potatoes were grown in abundance here But now Mahabaleshwar accounts for 80 per cent strawberry cultivation in Indiardquo informs Bhalasaheb Bhilare president of the Strawberry Grower Association of IndiaShashidhar Goravar started farming in the hot district of Dharwad despite failed stories of growing the fruit in the regionIn fact the town is so famous for its strawberries that it was bestowed with the Geographical Indication GI tag in 2010Currently the COVID19 pandemic has affected the business Walkeshwarbased Bansri Shah 26 whose grandfather owns a threeacre plot in Mahabaleshwar says ldquoDuring the lockdown we didnrsquot end up selling it to customers In order to get rid of the supplies we were stuck with we used to feed strawberries to cows and even buried tons of harvest It was also difficult to transport seeds from California Farmers were not able to send the harvest from Mahabaleshwar to cities Later the extended monsoon which led to heavy rainfall during September and early October adversely affected the fruit quality as well as outputrdquoBhalasaheb Bhilare president Strawberry Grower Association of India on how Mahabaleshwar accounts for 80 per cent of Indias cultivationThe young restaurateur of Bomberry and organic greengrocer has now taken to a new form of growing the fruit in humid Mumbai ldquoI had read about hydroponic farms and it had really caught my interest as it includes zero pesticides saves a large amount of water and has a higher amount of nutrient control I first started growing basil different types of lettuce sweet chard and oakleaf in small quantities in our basement When we got a positive response we tried it with a strawberry plant from our farms Trying to fit the weather conditions of Mahabaleshwar and grow the berry in a hydroponic setup did not work out at first go We are definitely going to give it another shot If it works we will be able to grow strawberries even in the monsoons hererdquo Shah beamsBut Bhilare doesnrsquot think the fruit can be or rather should be grown anywhere else in India ldquoWe too adopt newer techniques here in Mahabaleshwar but this is the original place where the fruit was planted I donrsquot think if you grow them anywhere else the quality will be the same Take grapes for instance Do you think you will ever find Sanglirsquos grape quality elsewhere in IndiardquoEntrepreneur Ruchi Jain of Taru Naturals chooses to differ She sources dried strawberries from a farm in Uttarakhand ldquoIt is very rare to bring in the fruit from there Usually restaurants prefer the Mahabaleshwar stock We obviously weighed the pros and cons and then decided to go for this one They last throughout the year and itrsquos a high value croprdquoStrawberries make excellent ice cream and jam on account of their rich aroma and are also a good source of vitamin C It is a soft and highly perishable fruit often shipped in frozen condition within India and to Western countries In the year 20202021 April to November India exported supplies worth of 3224 million And maybe this is why the government is encouraging farmers to take interest in the fruitBabu Rajasekharan is an enterprising young man from Udagamandalam popularly known as Ooty After working in the IT sector he decided to take the love for plants seriously In 2015 Rajasekharan started out with 3000 saplings of strawberries that were grown in a poly house across a 15 acre patch of land near the Mukurthi National Park ldquoIt is a short day plant which requires exposure to about 10 days of less than eight hours sunshine for initiation of flowering In winter the plants do not make any growth and remain dormant The exposure to low temperature during this period helps in breaking the dormancy of the plant Later on when the days become longer and the temperature rises the plants resume growth and begin flowering I had to do a lot of research and experiments before I started growing them here If I can do it here anyone can across IndiardquoRajasekharan suggests maintaining personal contact with each plant before it reaches fruition ldquoIt is important to grow them in smaller batches because this way you can see every sapling grow into a fruit If early ripening happens on a commercial level it can be a major economical setback to the farmer I always plant it in small quantities so that I can pay attention while they growrdquoRajasekharan has welcomed the growing interest in the fruit ldquoGrow it if you have the passion for it Accurate climatic conditions are definitely important to produce strawberries but what they need more is a green manured field and a lot of attentionrdquo57 to 65 phAcidity levels required in soil for growing strawberry