Jackfruit sells, and how!

By Sandhya Hegde

The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a species of tree of the mulberry family (Moraceae) native to parts of South and Southeast Asia. It is well suited to tropical lowlands. Its fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world, seldom less than about 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. Even a relatively thin tree, around 10 cm (4 in) diameter, can bear large fruit. The fruits can reach 36 kg (80 lbs) in weight and up to 90 cm (36 in) long and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. The jackfruit is something of an acquired taste, but it is very popular in many parts of the world. The sweet yellow sheaths around the seeds are about 3–5 mm thick and have a taste similar to that of pineapple, but milder and less juicy.

The jackfruit (not to be confused with the Durian fruit) is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also possibly native to the Malay Peninsula, though it is more likely that it was introduced there by humans. It is commercially grown and sold in South, Southeast Asia and northern Australia. It is also grown in parts of Hawaii, Brazil, Suriname, Madagascar, and in islands of the West Indies such as Jamaica and Trinidad. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh and Indonesia. All jackfruit plants are frost sensitive. The jackfruit bears fruit three years after planting.

The jackfruit has played a significant role in the Indian agriculture (and culture) from time immemorial. Archeological findings in India have revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago. Findings also indicate that Indian Emperor Ashoka the Great (274–237 BC) encouraged arbori-horticulture of various fruits including jackfruit. Varahamihira, the Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer wrote a chapter on the treatment of trees in his Brhat Samhita. His treatise includes a specific reference on grafting to be performed on trees such as jackfruit.

In Sri Lanka, particularly for rural poor families, a jackfruit tree is a fortune. The tree bears fruit for over six months, yielding many fruits over the course of the season. The fruit is a best substitute for rice, due to which the tree is commonly called "rice tree" by rural people.

Recently, the jackfruit has been considered as an invasive species in Brazil, specially in the Tijuca Forest National Park in Rio de Janeiro. The Tijuca forest being mostly an artificial secondary forest, whose planting began during the mid-XIXth century, jackfruit trees have historically made part of its flora since the park's founding. Recently, however, it was considered that the species had begun to expanded excessively due to the fact that its fruits, once they had naturally fallen to the ground and opened, where eagerly eaten by small mammals such as the common marmoset and the coati.

As both animals also prey opportunistically on bird's eggs and nestlings, the supply of jackfruit as a ready source of food has allowed them to expand their populations at the expense of avian life. Also, as the seeds themselves are also dispersed by the same animals, this allows the jackfruit to compete for space with native tree-species; therefore the fact that, between 2002 and 2007, 55,662 jackfruit saplings have been destroyed in the Tijuca Forest area alone in a deliberate culling effort by the park's management; at the same time, 1,921 young trees were felled and 881 mature ones were killed through girdling.

Jackfruit, the king of fruits, is tasty as well as nutritious. Come summer, and the fragrance of the fruit emanates from every home in the villages of Sirsi. The Malnad region is known for a variety of delicacies made out of jackfruit. But the fruit has hardly been tapped for its commercial potential.

Kadamba Marketing Cooperative at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district has driven home the commercial importance of jackfruit. The Cooperative has taken up the marketing of jackfruit papad in a big way. Kadamba Marketing had, last year, supplied 70,000 jackfruit papads under the brand name of Mayura. This year the demand has been such that the cooperative is striving to supply 1.5 lakhs of papads.

Traditionally, jackfruit papads have been prepared in villages in the region, devoid of marketing strategies. The cooperative provided training to the members of self-help groups to prepare jackfruit papads.

Kadamba has purchased 35,000 papads from those who prepare them, paying them Rs 60-70 for every hundred. A single family in Jaddigadde village has provided as many as 12,000 papads. A self-help group of Achave village has supplied 10,000 papads to Kadamba marketing ever since the jackfruit season began, says manager Vishweshwar Bhat.

It is difficult to meet demands and Kadamba is ready to purchase any number of papads if the quality is maintained. Along with papads the cooperative sold three quintals of jackfruit chips, he added. Over the last two years, the cooperative has held a special mela for jackfruit and preparations made out of it.

S L Jagadish, assistant professor of Arabhavi Kittur Chennamma Horticulture College, points out that there are around 300 types of the fruit.

In the Western Ghats, the flesh of fruit are soft whereas in the plains, the flesh is harder. Jackfruit products are very profitable, he explains. An organised production and marketing system should be established to make the fruit commercially viable, he adds, pointing that the fruit would then beat other fruits like mangoes and bananas.