Farmers finding fortune in fruits, earning crores

Fruit farmers are depositing a crore a year into their bank accounts. Global retailers, Indian  food companies and the government have come together to seed the next green revolution. Farmer vishwas Kachare lives in a 40,000 sq ft farm house in Telangwadi near Solapur,  a far cry from the small hut he and his wife lived in 30 years ago. Over the period, Kachare  borrowed money rom friends and bought a few farmyard animals. In 1985, he purchased 27 acres of barren land. Using drip irrigation, Kachare cultivated  pomegranate, and his toil has yielded him more than a bounty.  Today, his orchard extends to 300 acres, and he owns, in addition to the farm house,  a cold storage and packaging house worth crores, a few cars and much more. Kachare's transformation is the stuff of textbooks in Maharashtra's schools.  But more than that, it isrepresentative of a silent fruit revolution in the state's  drought-prone areas, and some of the hilly regions in the North.  Annual fruit production is growing by almost 15%. Exports of Indian fruits have grown to  Rs 1,269 crore from 450 crore in only two financial years.