'Sour' grapes to turn sweet for Mizo farmers soon

Aizawl, Jul 8 : Grape growers in Hnahlan and Champhai in eastern Mizoram would soon see the people of the state quench their thirst with the 'fruits of their labour'.

Wine produced from this grapes will be available hopefully by September this year in Mizoram which has been under a dry law for 13 long years.

Earlier, the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, imposed in the state on February 20, 1997, prevented the grapes from large-scale commercialisation even as the premium variety of Lubrusca grapes are most suitable for producing high quality and commercially viable wine. The Act was amended in April 2007, allowing the grapes to be processed into wine, containing 16 per cent alcohol. The grape wine will be branded as ''Zawlaidi'' which means love potion in Mizo language.

The grape cultivators had formed Grape Growers Society with district horticulture officer of Khawzawl as its managing director.

Two wineries had been set up by the society with logistical support from the government.

Vanlalruata Chenkual, managing director of the Grape Growers Society and Khawzal DHO has said each winery had the capacity of fermenting one lakh 650 ml bottles. The wine bottle would be labelled ''Not for sale outside Mizoram'', as it is expected that marketing the grape wine in the local market would be more profitable than exporting it.

The winemaking process will be monitored by experts from liquor major Shaw Wallace.

''To make the wine competitive and conform to international standards, experts from Shaw Wallace will train and guide the winemakers,'' Horticulture Director Samuel Rosanglura has said.

According to the sources, Hnahlan is expected to produce 8000 bottles of wine and Champhai 12,000 bottles. One bottle would be sold for Rs 150. Champhai Grape Growers Society has 325 families engaged in grape cultivation and harvested 478.5 quintals of grapes during FY10 and they expect to harvest 2,056 quintals during FY11. Hnahlan Grape Growers Society has 670 families of cultivators and their annual harvest during 2009-10 was 6916 quintals and expected 7910 quintals this year.

The grape cultivators believe that with its suitable climate and soil conditions, the region has the potential of becoming the largest grape producer in the country.