Amazing benefits of Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit is recently trending all over the internet.

The reason for the same is a decision by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, to
rename Dragon Fruit and call it “kamalam” for its resemblance to a lotus.Chief Minster
said the word Dragon is ‘associated with China’ and most suitable name for the Fruit is
‘Kamalam’.

The announcement comes a few months after Prime Minster Modi praised farmers in
the radio program ‘Mann Ki Baat’ for growing the Dragon Fruit in dry and arid Kutch
Region of Gujarat.

Origin of the Dragon Fruit

Now as Dragon Fruit is grabbing all the attention let us know more about this Exotic
Fruit.The tropical Fruit is said to have first originated from Central and Latin
America.The Fruit belongs to Hylocereus Genus and is part of several cactus species
indigenous to Latin and Central America.It is now cultivated and consumed all over the
world.
The Southeast Asian country Vietnam is leading producer and exporter of the Fruit.It
exported around US$ 1 billion of the Fruit last year.Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development reported that production area for Dragon Fruit in the country
is around 57,000 Hectares with output more than 5 lakh tonnes.

Health benefits of eating Dragon Fruit

The pulp of the Dragon Fruit is low in calories and fat-free. It contains plenty of fibers
and nutrients like Carotenoids,Magnesium,Zinc,Iron,Vitamin C.It is rich in
antioxidants.The fibers present in it helps to ease the digestive system.The nutrients
present in it strengthens your immune system and also reduces risk of of cancer,heart
disease and diabetes.
How Dragon Fruit is Cultivated ?

Growing Dragon Fruit is not so costly affair.Cultivating the Fruit requires plant
saplings,concrete pillar and old discarded bike tyres.Tilting of the land is not required
before sowing the saplings.All you need to do is install 7-8 feet concrete pillars by
maintaining a reasonable distance between them.Up to 4 saplings can be planted on
one pillar.The Fruit requires very less water and can also be irrigated with drip
system.As there are severe thrones and spikes all over the plant there is no harm from
birds and animals.The plant is free from pest,insects attack and diseases.However the
Fruit is vulnerable and has to be harvested within one week of maturity or else pest
and insects may cause the damage.Natural organic manure and cow dung is sufficient
for the plant nutrition.No other special and costly fertilizers are required.According to
horticulture experts, it takes a minimum of 2-3 years for the plant to mature and give
good harvest.A fully grown plant yields an harvest of about 12-15 kg per pillar.This
plant bears Fruit all around the year and can sustain till 18-20 years.Farmers can earn
about Rs 150-200 per kg of the Fruit from the market as per report by Indian Council
of Agriculture Research(ICAR).
Profitable for Farmers

Farmers across different states India like Gujarat,Maharashtra,Tamilnadu and Kerala,

have started commercial cultivation of the Fruit. The red Dragon Fruit that grows in
India is of said to be superior quality in comparison from the white Fruit that comes
from china and Vietnam. The economics of cultivating the Fruit depicts a profitable
picture.
 A brief and approximate calculation is summarized as below.(Cost in Rupees)

Land Size 1 Acre

Number of pillars 450

Price per pillar 150
Cost of Installing pillars 70,000

Number of Saplings 1800

Price per Sapling 100
Cost of Sapling 1,80,000

Number of used Tyre 450

Price Per Tyre 50
Cost of Tyre 20,000

Other Inputs Cost: Manure,Water and 80,000

Labour

Total Initial Investment Amount:Rs 3-3.5 Lakh /Per Acre

Profit after Harvesting

Year Kg per Plant No of Plants Total Production Price Per Kg Total Income Rs
2 Year
nd
2 1800 3600 150 5,40,000
3rd Year 5 1800 9000 150 13,50,000
4th Year 10 1800 18,000 150 27,00,000

State and central governments also provides subsidy for cultivation of the Fruit.More
details regarding cultivation and various subsidy schemes can be obtained from
National Horticulture Board and Horticulture Department of Gujarat .

The above calculation is based on data and information collected from

farmers .However the figure may vary according to prevailing market conditions.

The Niti Aayog in its recent report named ‘Doubling Farmers Income’ had said that
crop diversification is a major step that all farmers should take to increase their
incomes. Dragon Fruit is one of the major crops that could be adopted for this
measure with demand for it increasing every year. Cultivation of Dragon Fruit on a
commercial scale can be a big boost to Atmanibhar Bharat Abhiyaan initiated by Prime
Minster Modi and thus can fetch a huge profit for the farmers.