A few weeks ago, I had written about the jackfruit as well as some of its popular uses.
The Sao Joao festival that Goa celebrates annually on June 24 with boat parades; kopel making competitions for that flowery crown; jumping into wells, pools, tanks, ponds, lakes and rivers, and unplugged music, also includes eating fruits!
The traditional fruit platter, or dhali, contains a mixture of jackfruit carpels, mangoes and bananas, often cut for the convenience of revellers, who taste a little of everything on offer.
It was, therefore, no surprise to me that the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR of ICAR) – where I did research on guava for my MSc (Agri) – chose to have a Tri-phal exhibition of ambe, ponnos ani kellim, the trinity of mango, jackfruit and banana!
The concept of a joint exhibition of three fruits has now gone viral in South India.
After Mysuru (formerly Mysore) organised a Tri-fruit exhibition from May 31 to June 2 at the IIHR-Bengaluru (known as ‘Bangalore’ when I was a student there), Pudukottai in South Tamil Nadu followed suit Sunday, 23 June. It is officially called the ‘Tri-Fruit Mega Festival’.
It is the peak season of the mango at higher elevations, and the beginning of the main jackfruit season.
Bananas are available all year round in these areas, and are exported to other states. Goa is blessed with several mango varieties, and now, Mankurad or Malcurada mango has ‘Geographic Indication’ or GI tag just like the Myndoli or Moira bananas.
However, we do not have a named jackfruit variety though Nicholas Sequeira of Sonarbhat- Saligao has a promising type, while Nella Miranda of Orlim has an early bearing type, and there will be others, too.
There are named jackfruit varieties which were exhibited at IIHR and were on display at Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, last month. They include the salmon to coppery red fleshed ‘Siddu’ variety from Tumkur, Karnataka, which is registered under No. 348 of 2020 and legally protected under the PPVFRA.
Goa is blessed with several mango varieties, and now, Mankurad or Malcurada mango has ‘Geographic Indication’ or GI tag just like the Myndoli or Moira bananas.
The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers Rights Act (PPVFRA) is a central act that protects the farmer’s right to royalty and benefits from a variety he has identified or created, like Cardozo Mango or Maulankar cashew nut in Goa.
The owners now have a patent on it, too. One tree bears up to four hundred fruits a year!
Daeng Surya is a red to orange fleshed jackfruit variety from Thailand that begins bearing fruit after four or five years.
It has medium sized fruits weighing ten to fifteen kilograms as against the large local fruits weighing about thirty five kilograms. It is getting popular because of the unique colour of its pulp.
The Vietnam Super Early jackfruit is literally gaining ground in India. Its grafts bear one year after planting and bear fruits twice a year, flowering in November-December and May-June in coastal South India.
The Vietnam Super Early jackfruit is literally gaining ground in India. Its grafts bear one year after planting and bear fruits twice a year, flowering in November-December and May-June in coastal South India.
It can be grown in large pots or barrels of about fifty to hundred litres capacity.
The fruits are medium sized and the carpels are butter yellow in colour, and very tasty. Grafts are readily available in the Konkan region. This variety may be the best to plant till we have good grafted varieties of our own.
(The author is the former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan)