Dragon fruit, purple mangoes, apples — experiments bear fruit in arid Gujarat

RAJKOT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mention of Kutch farmers tasting success with dragon fruit cultivation in his July 26 ‘Mann Ki Baat’ put the spotlight on how this exotic fruit has become a money spinner for many in Gujarat.In fact, people have quit their lucrative professions like investment banking and chartered accountancy after the sweet success in farming of this vibrant red fruit which is known for its medicinal benefits.Kutch native Vishal Gada, who has a certified practising accountant (CPA) degree from Australia and chartered financial analyst (CFA) from the US, took up farming of dragon fruit in 2014-15 along with his cousin Kalpesh Hariya and friend Sagar Thakkar. Thakkar, who is also a CA, and Gada had worked as investment bankers in India and Australia, are considered to be pioneers of dragon fruit farming in Gujarat. medium77297521“After working in the corporate sector for a decade, we decided to take up a different profession altogether. We imported dragon fruit saplings and started farming in our ancestral land in Kharua village of Abdasa taluka,” said Gada, who gets 60-80 tonnes of fruit every year which sells at around Rs 300-Rs 400 per kg.“Kutch is famous for its dates, pomegranate and kesar mango, but we wanted to do something different which would give good profit and therefore started dragon fruit farming,” added Thakkar. medium77300320Vir Gala of Mota Asambhiya village of Mandvi taluka also left his job as a CA and took to dragon fruit farming in 2017. “I wanted to be an entrepreneur. At one point of time, I got tired of taxation and auditing. I came to my village to install a drip irrigation system and got to know about this fruit,” said Gala, who cultivates the dragon fruit on seven acre land. The success of this fruit is not limited to Kutch. Ashwin Sabhaya, a textile trader who had settled in Surat, started dragon fruit farming in his native Ingorala village of Amreli’s Khambha taluka and took up dragon fruit farming, around two years ago. When the lockdown pushed the textile business into recession, Sabhaya returned for good to his village and started working in the farm himself. medium77297673“I used tissue culture from Kerala. Initially, it was an experiment but due to severe slowdown recession in the market, I feel that there is more income in farming of this fruit than textile business in Surat,” said Sabhaya.The farming of dragon fruit is a costly affair as it requires an investment of around Rs 4 lakh per acre- in the initial stage. Being a cactus, it requires watering through a drip irrigation system and as it’s also a creeper, a farmer needs to erect concrete poles for support. But the returns are good.A MANGO THAT WON’T SPIKE SUGAR LEVELSJunagadh and Gir-Somnath districts are known as Gujarat’s ‘Kesar’ hubs — ‘Kesar’ being the most popular variety of mangoes grown in the state. But now, after nearly five years of consistent efforts, ‘Tommy Atkins’ variety of mango has been successfully cultivated in these hubs.The mango variety, originally from Florida, US, is known for its lower sugar content — 75% less than the usual varieties — and unusual colour. medium77298258Vishal Gandecha, a mango farmer in Maliya taluka of Junagadh, said, “In 2015, I bought the seedling from my friend Naresh Boghra. We nurtured the plants by using organic farming. It worked and started giving fruits from last year.”The tree starts bearing fruits after five years and yields around 15 kg per tree once it’s seven years old. “This mango is in high demand among diabetics. I have select customers who order this fruit,” said GandechaAdded Gafoor Qureshi, a mango grower in Talala, said, “This variety was first brought in Malihabad in UP in 2010 and was successfully grown. Our experiments also have yielded fruits after five years.”Professor D K Varu, head of fruit science department, Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU), told TOI, “The mango variety tastes a bit acidic but has less sugar.” There are just about 25 to 30 trees of this variety in Junagadh and Gir-Somnath districts and the fruit is available only in select places. However, as the climate is conducive, there is a huge potential for farmers to experiment with this variety.APPLES FROM ARID KUTCHDry and arid Kutch is known for its sweet dates, but Kutchi apples that are garnering attention. Yes indeed, a farmer in Kutch’s Nakhatrana region is experimenting with apple farming and his plants are bearing fruit.Kesar mango grower, Shantibhai Mavani in Khirasara Roha, has been toiling hard for the past five years to grow Himachal Pradesh apples in his arid orchard. medium77300401Of course, a lot of trial and error went into growing the fruit, said Mavani. “I tried the rootstock method (a plant, on to which another variety is grafted) of growing apples which finally gave me results. The speciality of this method is it controls the height of the plant and we can grow over 400 plants in one acre. This way more plants can be grown in a small piece of land,” he said. Mavani divided plants in groups and maintained them with different methods to protect them from Kutch’s extreme temperature during peak summers. He covered one group of plants with a net to protect them from direct sunlight. In another, he employed coconut leaves as shields while he used plastic bags in the third method to cover his plants. The third method, however, failed. Mavani owns 25-acre land in Nakhatrana and Mandvi taluka and next year he plans growing apples in a bigger piece of land. He believes that after five years each tree will yield him 80kg apples in one season. medium77298570Deputy director in-charge of the horticulture department, Kutch, K P Sojitra said, “It’s a lone experiment by a single farmer. Our weather conditions wouldn’t make the apple taste the same as those in Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh surely, but in the future, it can definitely be made commercially viable after experimentation by agriculture scientists.”If his tryst with the cold-weather fruit brings commercial success, then Mavani will add another feather to his cap, after his successful experimentation on Kesar mangoes and the exotic dragon fruit. Untitled Carousel 71453238