“Jackfruit” –the wonder fruit of tropics

Jack fruit which is believed to be

originated in the Western Ghats is considered as a poor man’s crop in
India. Even though it enjoyed the status of heavenly fruit in the ancient
periods in Kerala, it had lost its status and is one of the most under
exploited fruit of the state today. The fruit that is fetching a premium
price in other states earns only a pittance in the state. While
neighboring countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia
do serious jack farming no such efforts have been stated in Kerala.

Jack trees are grown in the

homesteads of Kerala without any management practices. According to
2004-05 statistics Kerala has 97536 hectares under jack and produces
348 million fruits (source: Farm Guide 2007, Depatment of Agriculture,
and Government of Kerala). But a lion share of fruits produced are
wasted due to multitude of reasons like poor awareness among
growers and consumers, absence of a functional supply chain,
perishability etc. In order to ensure food security we have to
systematically exploit hitherto under exploited or unexploited food
sources like jack fruit. In this era of increasing health consciousness,
jack fruit which is an organic fruit by default can fetch the grower good
returns if strong supply chain management strategies are adopted.
Jack fruits produced in Kerala show
very high variability in shape, texture, colour, flavor, keeping quality
etc due to the seedling origin of jack trees. Even though the trees are
broadly classified as “Koozha” and “Varikka” based on fruit texture, no
serious efforts have been taken to identify and propagate better
germplasam available in these groups. Efforts for identifying and
propagating germplasms that can be specifically identified for
cultivation as vegetable purpose, table purpose and for processing
need to be done for exploiting the full potential of jack farming .
The market potential of jack fruit
can be better exploited if the fruits are made available to the
consumers in a ready to eat or cook form throughout the year.
Development of processing facilities that can undertake primary
processing at the producers level can greatly increase the consumer
acceptance and demand of jack fruit. Technologies for preservation of
jack flakes like dehydration need to be standardized and popularized
for ensuring availability throughout the year and for avoiding market
glut during season. Concentrated efforts for standardizing and
popularizing available technologies for value addition need to be taken
immediately to avoid the wastage of fruits. Women groups and rural
entrepreneurs can tap this potential of the jackfruit and can develop is
as a viable rural enterprise.
The present status of neglect can
largely be attributed to the absence of a strong supply chain
management system. Development of sustainable marketing
strategies, taking into consideration the inherent strengths and
weaknesses of jack growing in Kerala is the need of the hour.
Organising rural markets and positioning jack fruit as one of the
marketable item in the existing markets can send positive messages to
the growers and encourage jack farming in the state.
Exploring the hidden possibilities of
jack fruit like extraction of chemicals like saponins and tannins, use of
jack seed as raw material for confectioneries ,promotion of jack fruit as
a health food for its presence of cholesterol reducing anti oxidants,
utilization a s a cost effective feed for cattle and poultry etc need to be
done for increasing the market demand and profitability of jack
farming .Even though development in this direction is happening in
various sectors ,no serious actions have been done to consolidate
these efforts and popularize them.
By adopting scientific production
and marketing technologies, income to the tune of Rs 300-500 can be
eared from a single jack fruit through production of products like jam,
squash, RTS, sip up etc. This potential of jack fruit can be harnessed
for developing it as a money earning crop for the rural people and the
state. By consolidation of scientific and traditional knowledge on the
potential use of jack fruit and the efforts taken by various stake
holders in a participatory mode, Jack fruit can be elevated from its
present “neglected” status to “the commercially grown organic fruit of
Kerala”
References