The ARRA varieties table grape breeding program boasts unique advantages, such as: tolerance to rain and the ability to thrive in diverse climates; grower friendliness that translates to economic efficiency with lowered labour costs; offering the earliest white, red, and black selections in the world.
Sahyadri Farms, founded in 2011 is today India’s largest integrated platform for fruits and vegetables. As the biggest farmer collective in this sector, it services over 18,000 registered farmers across 30,000 acres with 9 crops and is also India’s largest grape exporter.
On my trip, among the Sahyadri founders that I met, were Vilas Shinde, Chairman and Managing Director and Azhar Tambuwala, Marketing Director. From them, I heard about the roots of Sahyadri Farms. Vilas Shinde, having grown up in a rural area, experiencing and witnessing the hardships of the small-landholding farmers of India, was set on finding the way to ensure farmers receive fair compensation for their produce and provide for their families with dignity.
Along his determined journey, Shinde’s path merged with Tambuwala, who derived from an urban area and due to his global grape business, under operation then, he recognised the significant gap between the quality of the local produce compared to that available worldwide. He questioned how this disparity could be reduced and how farmers could access modern technology and facilities to meet global standards and array.