With potential of minor fruits increasing in the market, the government is undertaking measures to encourage farmers to grow these fruits, thereby ensuring its availability  Minor fruits, once regarded as unusual fruits or lesser known fruits for its unavailability in the domestic market, are gradually gaining popularity among consumers, thereby compelling the government to attach more importance to it. Contrary to popular fruits such as apple, orange, guava and others, which have dedicated orchards for their cultivation, minor fruits are generally grown in private gardens under the supervision of garden owners.
Varieties, advantages, disadvantages
Fig, butter fruit, longan, mayhaw, cheriymoyer, pommelo, jujube and bearberry, among othersare some of the minor fruits.
Sharing his views with a FoodProcessing360 correspondent, Bijay Kumar, managing director of the National Horticulture Board, says, “Even papaya was once regarded as a minor fruit. But with time it has become popular among consumers. Cultivation of minor fruits, to an extent, depends on local preferences of the people. For instance, fig is very popular in the eastern part of the country. Cultivation alone cannot popularise these fruits, proper post harvest management and packaging go a long way in encouraging farmers to grow these fruits.”
The biggest advantage of these fruits is that they are free from any external agro-inputs, a practice that has plagued the fruit and vegetable market in India. Also, these fruits have high nutritional value.
However, some of these minor fruits are also known for their disadvantages. While some are bitter in taste and are characterised by their acerbity and astringency, some are highly relished by consumers.
Scenario in Indian market
With the passage of time, these so-called unusual fruits have gained immense popularity in the Indian market, so much so that going by the market potential the Karnataka government has already announced an investment of Rs 50 lakh for the promotion of these fruits.
In its new scheme, the Karnataka government intends to spread awareness among farmers about the commercial viability of these fruits and encourage them to initiate its cultivation. The Karnataka government has also set up a Pommelo Conservation Centre at Devanahalli in Bengaluru for collecting various varieties of pommelo.
Likewise, in West Bengal (WB) too, the picture is somewhat similar where horticulturists are stressing on infrastructure development and awareness programmes. “While it’s easy to market a few of these minor fruits, most of them are not much popular in the Indian market, primarily because of their unavailability. Therefore, proper infrastructure and awareness among farmers are needed to increase the availability of these fruits, which in turn will give impetus to their profit margins,” opines Dr S L Rehman, joint secretary of Agri Horticultural Society of India, in an exclusive interview with a FoodProcessing360 correspondent.
In order to increase visibility of these fruits in the market, the WB government has already undertaken a few projects. One such project is on fig, which is popularly known by its local name dumur.
Rich soil is not required to grow fig trees. Instead, they grow in loamy and clayey soil. Delicious to taste, these fruits can be eaten fresh or dried and they can also be canned and preserved for longer durations. Fresh figs are also used in making desserts or jams. However, most of it is consumed in dried form.
Shalmoli Kundu |
