Mumbai: The crop protection business of Godrej Agrovet (GAVL) recently announced that its biostimulant, Combine, has completed 25 years of enabling Indian grape farmers to grow better-quality grapes.
Today, India is the 11th largest exporter of grapes in the world with 1.2 lakh farmers growing grapes across 3 lakh acres of total land every year. With 70 per cent of total grapes sown being exported, the total exports have surged at a CAGR of 12.6 per cent in the last decade. “And it is herein that Diamore Combine has aided Indian farmers achieve the right berry size and colour for exports whereas Supershakti Combine has aided achieve an elongated variety of grapes for domestic market,” Godrej Agrovet said.
Speaking on the 25 years of Combine, Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, GAVL, said “In a tropical country like India, Combine has been instrumental in aiding farmers get better yield and quality for their grapes. We serve 90,000 farming families who grow grapes in close to 1.5 lakh acres of land every year. We are happy to have contributed towards putting India on the global grapes map and bringing prosperity to grape-growing farmers.”
You may also like to read: Syngenta launches new plant protection solutions for paddy and vegetable farmers in India
“Aligned with the guidelines set by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), ‘Combine’ has been a critical instrument in elevating grape quality. With the right application, grape growers are able to achieve premium parameters such as a bunch weight of 400-500 g, berry diameter of 18 mm and above, uniform berry colour, and improved shelf-life. These attributes, in tandem with an ability to reduce the impact of disease-spreading pests like powdery mildew and downy mildew,” the company claims.
Burjis Godrej, Executive Director & COO, Crop Protection Business, GAVL said, “Grapes stand as a significant contributor to India’s export prowess, holding immense potential to bolster our agricultural economy. At Godrej Agrovet, we take pride in our role as enablers, and our product ‘Combine’ emerges as a key to realising this potential. By enabling grape farmers to grow their harvest aligned to the global quality standards, ‘Combine’ empowers them to attain exceptional grape quality.”
Considering that the grape is an essential fruit with high export potential, it is imperative to have a robust system to tackle pests as around 50-80 per cent of the yield is lost due to pest attacks. “As an integral component of the integrated disease management approach, Combine offers solutions that target specific pests and address potential disease issues in grape cultivation, ” the crop protection company said.
You may also like to read: Tropical Agrosystem strengthens its crop protection portfolio with the launch of new products
The company also launched a celebratory pack marking 25 years of Combine for better farming in addition to protecting farmers from counterfeit products. “Combine’s new pack is user-friendly and comes in a safe packaging bottle. It has a tamper-evident seal which blasts open and falls when anyone tries to open the bottle. The label has complex watermarks to avoid duplication and the bottle also has a hologram – a unique 9-digit code on each and every bottle to ensure authenticity. While the hologram also has smartly embedded letter ‘G’ to assure the customer that the product is genuine, ‘Braille’ marking on the neck reading danger has also been added for the visually impaired,” GAVL said.
Speaking at the occasion, Rajavelu NK, CEO, Crop Protection Business, GAVL said, “As pests and diseases threaten grape yields, there is a need to popularise integrated disease management in the farming community by imparting training to farmers at the grassroots level. Right from the usage of recommended quantity to authentic products, industry-wide collaboration is in need of an hour. Additionally, innovative use of biostimulants as an effective integrated pest management tool in horticulture will come a long way in increasing contribution of grapes to overall exports of the country.”
