Till a few years ago, you would scarcely have given it the same respect as you would, say, the mango or the banana. But no less sweet or nutritious, your ‘undistinguished’ and ubiquitous jackfruit has definitely come up in the world since then.
Appreciating this ‘fruity’ fact, the State Agriculture Department is embarking upon a project to boost the procurement, trade and processing of jackfruit which officially became the State fruit in 2018.
The ₹75-lakh initiative will be carried out through the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) under a ₹31.25-crore scheme earmarked in the State Budget for ‘development of fruits, flowers and medicinal plants.’
Three components
The project has three important components — a trading centre for jackfruit in Wayanad, a processing centre in Idukki district and the marketing of raw and processed jackfruit.
For each of the three components, ₹25 lakh each has been earmarked.
Expected outcomes of the initiative include higher income for small/marginal farmers, reduced post-harvest losses and an increase in post-harvest handling know-how.
“The fruit is being simply loaded into trucks and transported to Tamil Nadu. But farmers have started giving more importance to the jackfruit now,” A.K. Sherief, Chief Executive Officer, VFPCK, said.
The jackfruit trading centre would be established at Muttil in Wayanad during the current fiscal, said a June 18 order issued by the Agriculture Department. Initially four markets would be established at Sultan Batheri, Ambalavayal, Cheeral and Muttil for procuring the fruit, the department said.
At Kalayanthani
In Idukki district, the jackfruit processing centre will be established at the market at Kalayanthani.
The processed produce will be marketed through supermarkets, outlets of the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp), Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) and the VFPCK.
Online trading also forms part of the plan, according to the Agriculture Department.
Medicinal properties
“Parts of the jack tree, including fruit, leaves and bark, have been extensively used in traditional medicine due to its anti-carcinogenic, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, wound healing and hypoglycemic properties. Despite all these benefits, unfortunately, the fruit is underutilised on a commercial scale,” the department noted in its order.