§1What this business is
Kiwi is a vine fruit for the mid hills. It needs 700-800 chilling hours in winter, about 150 cm of well-spread rain, and deep, well-drained sandy loam soil. Grafted plants of varieties such as Hayward, Allison, Bruno, Abbott and Monty are planted in January on terraces, in north-south rows, and trained on wires carried by pillars 1.8-2.0 m high. Vines start bearing at 4-5 years and reach commercial yield at 7-8 years. Fruit is picked hard, rubbed with a coarse cloth to remove the hairs, graded by weight and packed in 3-4 kg cardboard boxes.
Capacity: 1 acre, 200 grafted vines at 4 m × 5 m. Yield in the model rises from 5 tonnes an acre in the 4th year to 8 tonnes in the 7th year.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
A hill farmer at 800-1,500 m with own terraced land, water and the patience to wait for the vines.
Who it is not for
Farms in the plains or in windy, frost-prone or very hot sites.
Advantages
- Fruit keeps up to 8 weeks in a cool place without refrigeration
- The report found no serious pest or disease on the crop
- Hard fruit travels well by road from the hills
- Vegetables between the rows give income in the first years
Drawbacks
- No fruit for the first 3 years; full yield only at 7-8 years
- The training structure alone costs ₹90,000 an acre
- Grows only in a narrow hill belt with enough winter chill
- Longest payback among these fruit models at 6.71 years
Skills you need
- Building and tensioning the T-bar or pergola wires
- Training and pruning vines into fruiting arms
- Planting male and female vines for pollination
- Grading fruit by weight into A and B grades
Why difficulty 4/5: Site choice is narrow, the trellis is costly and the vines take years to pay back.
§3Market
Who buys
- Village-level trade agents
- Commission agents at the fruit mandi
- Squash and wine makers
How it sells
- Cardboard boxes of 3-4 kg, with polythene liners to hold humidity
- Truck transport from the orchard to the market
Good to know
- Fruit of 70 g and above is A grade; 40-70 g is B grade.
- Fruit keeps 4-6 months in cold storage at -0.6 to 0°C.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Training structure for the vines (pillars and wires) | 1 | ₹90,000 |
| Tube-well with submersible pump | 1 | ₹50,000 |
| Drip irrigation with fertigation system | 1 | ₹20,000 |
| Farm equipment and implements | — | ₹5,000 |
| Store and pump house (100 sq ft at ₹200 a sq ft) | 1 | ₹20,000 |
| Labour shed (100 sq ft at ₹100 a sq ft) | 1 | ₹10,000 |
| Fencing and gates (846 running ft at ₹35) | — | ₹29,600 |
From: National Horticulture Board model bankable project — Kiwi
- Grafted kiwi plants200 grafts an acre at ₹20 a graft = ₹4,000
- Farmyard manure and fertilisers₹6,000 at planting; 20 kg farmyard manure and 0.5 kg NPK mixture a vine every year
- Insecticides and pesticides₹2,000 at planting
From: National Horticulture Board model bankable project — Kiwi
§5Licences & registration
- No licence is needed to grow the crop on your own farm land
- Land ownership or lease papers for the bank loan and subsidy file
- FSSAI registration if you sell packed produce under your own name
- APEDA registration and a phytosanitary certificate if you export
Start it in your state
Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.
§6Schemes & subsidies
The model funds the project as farmer's share ₹1,25,000 (50%), capital subsidy ₹50,000 (20%) and term loan ₹75,000 (30%). Under NHB's current rules, open-field horticulture gets a 35% back-ended subsidy (45% in North-East, Himalayan and scheduled areas) only on projects above 2 hectares that carry a bank term loan, and land cost is not counted. A one-acre plot qualifies only as part of a larger project.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: One-acre model: land levelling ₹4,000 + fencing ₹29,600 + store and pump house ₹20,000 + labour room ₹10,000 + training structure ₹90,000 + tube-well with submersible pump ₹50,000 + drip irrigation ₹20,000 + implements ₹5,000 + cultivation ₹21,400 (planting material ₹4,000, manures and fertilisers ₹6,000, pesticides ₹2,000, labour ₹5,800, power ₹3,600) = ₹2,50,000. Land cost is not included; the farmer is taken to own the land.
Working capital: Vegetables grown between the rows in the first years cost ₹10,000 an acre and give about 6 tonnes worth ₹30,000. The report notes that capital costs run higher in hill areas than in the plains.
Year not printed on the pages of this report; the other reports in the same NHB series are dated November–December 2005 and this one also counts labour at ₹70 a day. Treat every price as about 20 years old.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: APEDA
- The report gives no export figures; it calls kiwi a newly introduced crop with no area or production estimates yet.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Strong wind and frost in the growing season
- Leaf scorch and sun scald above 35°C at lower heights
- Wires breaking under crop load if strained too tight
- Low yield where soil pH is above 7.3
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working kiwi orchard unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (No licence is needed to grow the crop on your own farm land, Land ownership or lease papers for the bank loan and subsidy file), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.
§11Who to connect with
§12Watch
There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.
Want to start Kiwi Orchard?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.