With more than 20 years of experience in horticulture, particularly, for exotic food crops, Dr G. Karunakaran has been working in Coorg predominantly and also worked in the northern part of India, in places like Lucknow and Delhi.
Over the years, he has accumulated experience in cultivation of crops like banana, papaya and many citrus fruits and also exotic crops like rambutan ,durian, litchi, longan, malayan apple. Since the last 5 years his focus has been on 3 fruit crops - jackfruit, dragon fruit and butter fruit.
His team has released two varieties of Jackfruit - Siddu and Shankara. They distribute the planting material and give the farmers 75% of the sale amount, as per the MoU they have with farmers.
They also do research work on Avocados and at present around 1000-acre plantations established in all over karnataka.
“My venture with butter fruit started in 2001. Initially I planted this in the Coorg-Kodagu district. Since the last 5-7 years butter fruit has gained substantial momentum.”
What are the other crops that can be intercropped with these plants?
We cannot go for very close intercropping for jackfruit in the Indian conditions because of various constraints. Also, we allow trees to spread out as much as possible so that we get more number of fruits.
So, in my opinion, we should have a distance of minimum 22.5 ft between plants and rows. I did a trial of 15X15 ft. and realised that it leads to clashes between plants within 4 years.
If we prune the plants every year, it can give way to transmission of diseases. I recommend leaving a distance of 20ft. to 25 ft. between plants.With this distance, you can grow medicinal plants or vegetables for the first three years. There are people who have planted bananas, papayas, etc.
For avocado, the distance should be 15- 20 ft. and the intercropping can be done for the first two years. In this case, within 2.5 - 3 years, the plants will need more space. Avocados are very sensitive to water stagnation. Hence, one should only employ drip irrigation. Flood irrigation can work adversely.
What varieties of avocado would you suggest for cultivation?
See, plants like avocado is a crop that was introduced into the Indian market. It wasn't traditionally grown here. We cannot reproduce all the varieties that gets produced in other countries.
Avocado has 3 different varieties. Some are grown in tropical conditions and some in sub-tropical conditions. For example, the West Indian variety comes up well in tropical conditions like in Bangalore, Tumkur, Mysore, etc. But for subtropical regions like Coorg, Chikmaglur, Dakshina Kannada, Kerala etc. the Mexican and Gautemalan varieties fare better.
The biggest mistake farmers do is that they simply buy some seeds from certain agents or juice shops without much thought. They buy the seed at the cost of Rs 10 per seed. Farmers need to know about the parent seeds, its yield, the pulp recovery percentage, the quality of the fruit pulp, before they procure the seeds. In case of avocado seedlings, there are grafted plants as well.
In my experience, till date i saw only seedling origin plants performed well. In case of regions such as Coorg, the seedling origin plants yield only after 6-8 years. In tropical conditions like in Bangalore or Mysore, seedling trees yield by the 3rd year itself. However, nowadays people are importing foreign varieties and trying to farm it here. We do not know the outcome of these varieties at our conditions. People go for these varieties because of the more nutty flavour and better shelf life. Even as the outer skin grows dark, the pulp within stays good. This variety is called the Hass Variety, which is originally from California.
Where can the best seeds be procured from?
The major production areas are Coorg and Kodaikanal. The season for these crops are June/July/August. Partially by February you can see some trees yielding. So, even if one opts to go for seedling method, it is best to assess the yield of the trees from which you are getting the seed.
When you source seeds from Kodaikanal, you must be cautious because in those areas crops are severely infected with stem borer. I know of a case where this person who procured about 2000 fruits for raise the seedling and to grow in Chikmaglur and today he faces a lot of stem borer issues. It is best to slightly fumigate the lot if you are sourcing from such areas. If that is not done, you will have problems in your field in the future.
Farmers at local nurseries complain that hardly 5% of the butter fruit trees survive until harvest. Any precautions that you can suggest?
Nowadays seeds are sold at Rs 10 per seed. When you buy the seed, the flatter surface of the seed should go into the bottom of the poly bags. People sometimes do it the other way round, which affects the germination process.
If you are plan to raise the seedling process, people usually spend around Rs 30/- which involves the poly bags, potting mixture and seed and labour. To that you can perhaps add another Rs 5 for maintenance.
Now, if the method adopted is grafting, they have to go for it after a month of the germination. For grafting, people can choose scion woods from adjoining farms.
I can demonstrate the grafting process to anybody who gets in touch with me. Some private nurseries sell grafted plants. The only thing about private nurseries is that they never assess the plant by looking into the history of the crop. It is essential to have a fair knowledge on the yield, the size of the fruit, the color of the pulp, etc. before grafting.
Give us some insight about the cost and profit of these crops.
These things depend on the size of the fruit. Some fruits are 500-800 gms, whereas some are only 250-350 gms. If you are maintaining your crop well, you can harvestapproximately 50-100 kilos from a single tree.
For instance,if youharvest 50 kilos per tree and sell it at a minimum rate of Rs 50/-, you get Rs 2500/- per tree. Your maintenance cost will come upto Rs 200-300 depending upon the locality. But a maximum you will spend on maintenance is Rs 500. The rest Rs 2000/- is your income. If you directly market your produce, you can sell at the rate of Rs 120-150 per kg.
Some farmers in Kodaikanal and Coorg deal the market directly and sell their produce. If you keep middle men for marketing, they will buy at a rate of perhaps Rs 40 per kilo.
You can have about 120 trees per acre. One tree can fetch you an income of about Rs 2000/-. Hence, you can make a profit of about 2 and a half lakhs after your expenditure deduction which is Rs 500/- per tree.
Recently the avocado prices have shot up from Rs 80 to Rs 300/-. Another important aspect about choosing avocado varities should either be an early or a late crop. Farmers should target their market with diligence. One should not opt for mid-season because all farmers will have mid-season varieties and that is when the prices fall. Your crop should yield either fromMay-June or Sept-Oct. Those are the varieties that can fetch you the best price.
What is the life of each tree?
I have seen trees that are 50 years of age as well. It is normal for plants to get affected with diseases and pests in any ecosystem. Four management practices are highly important when it comes to Avocado:
1. Stem borer management: This is more so in the Kodaikanal areas.
2. High rainfall zones like Chikmaglur andCoorg may sometimes face Phytophthora.
3. During flowering season, the crop must be sprayed with neem oil to control Anthracnose and Canker.
4. You have to spray NAA ( 4ml in 20 litre if water)for retaining fruits because fruit drop is heavy in avocado.
These are the 4 major management tips that should be duly followed for avocado crops.
When I offer consultation, I pictorially show at what stage each of these management practices need to be done. My office is located opposite Hirehalli railway station - 15 km before Tumkur.
For sustenance, what is the minimum acreage that you need to have to cultivate avocados?
You will need to cultivate avocados on a minimum of 2 acres of land.
What are the other crops that can be grown along with avocado?
Honestly, there are no research finalizations when it comes to intercropping with avocado till date. You can go ahead with local market demand vegetable crops for up to 2 years. After that, intercropping for avocados are not advisable.
Can pulses be intercropped as it fixes the nitrogen content of the soil as well?
Yes, any pulses can be grown. Some people even grow ragi. The only thing is it should be a short duration crop, there should be water stagnation and it should not be a crop that demands flood irrigation. Also, during rainy season, providing drainage is a must.
Are organic seeds available for avocado cultivation?
Till date, nobody uses pesticides or fungicides for avocado. So sourcing organic seeds wouldn't be an issue.
Is avocado oil extraction something that is sustainable from a 2 acre farm?
No, 2 acres is sustainable if you plan on harvesting and selling fruits.
We are currently in research on which Indian variety is best suited for oil extraction because compared to the US varieties which has 23% of fat, Indian avocado varieties only have about 10- 12% fat.
Any other precautions we need to keep in mind to go ahead with avocado cultivation?
Be cautious when choosing the mother plant. The variety you go for should be carefully chosen as per your aim in cultivating the plant. For example, if your aim is oil extraction, you must go for bigger sized fruits. For marketing the fruit, you need to go only for fruit yield that is 300 to 350 gms each. So, the planting material is highly important.
How do we manage small rodents, squirrels etc.?
At present, we don’t see such issues with the avocado fruit honestly perhaps it is not as sweet as other fruits.
What is the shelf life of fruits from the time it is harvested?
It has a shelf life of 10 days from the day it is harvested. It takes 3 days for ripening and one week after it ripens, under room temperature.
Coming to banana cultivation, is black cotton soil suitable for banana cultivation?
For banana cultivation, 30% sand is very important. Drainage and water percolation into the soil is of high importance. This is possible only with a min 30% sandy soil.
If black cotton soil cracks, it means clay content is high. In such soil, water stagnation is more. Banana roots are superficial by nature. Water stagnation during rainy season can adversely affect your crop. I have seen in parts of Trichy, where they do grow banana in similar soil using the trench system. The trench holds the water and the bunds hold the plants. But, trench method is highly expensive for banana cultivation.
Can you also share information related to jackfruit?
Sure. We have introduced two varieties of jackfruit - siddu and shankara. Both are coppery red in color bulbs. The main advantage of these varieties is that it only has 2.5 to 3 kg per fruit. It can becarried home easily using carry bags. Also, most families in India are nuclear families. This variety will only have 20-25 bulbs in total, which means it is ideal for small families and counters for no wastage.
When it comes to health, the coppery red renders to 1.5- 2.0% lycopene content, which is also present in tomatoes. Lycopene precursor anti heart attacks if consumed regularly. Also, owing to this health benefit and its taste the market demand is extremely high and the price is almost 7 times more than the yellow-coloured jackfruit.
The siddu and shankara fruits mature in June-July-August time frame. You get the fruit only after May month. The yellow fruit, at the same time, is available right from March.
Kerala and Dakshina Kannada tend to have early rains. These fruits coincide with rainy season. In those regions we are still not sure about cultivation of the siddu and shankara varieties, Studies are still ongoing. This crop grows best in purely tropical conditions even upto 40 degrees temperature, 50-60 humidity. But near the coastal belt, we have to do trial and error to see how well it grows.
What types of fruits do you suggest for people who have lands with red soil and black cotton soil?
Since the last 2-3 years, farmers are growing these three crops in large scale - dragon fruit, jack fruit and butter fruit.
Jack fruit will be the minimum maintenance plant, dragon fruit can be costly in terms of initial investment. For butter fruit, keep a close watch on maintenance. In red soil all these crops can be cultivated very well. Now there are many other crops you can look into - date palms grow well in red and black cotton soil.
To suggest the best crop I will need to know the temperature and humidity in your area.
What kind of crop in the outskirts of Chennai can be grown with minimum labor intervention?
Definitely, jackfruit and tamarind!
What are your thoughts on high density cropping?
High density cropping demands highly intensive management care. Every year you are pruning and restricting the growth of the tree. So, it requires close watch and high maintenance.
In Israel, where this form of farming is widely used, they cultivate 5X10 feet spacing avocado cultivation. But, their climatic condition is highly different from ours. They also follow farming precision ,they will spray the plants even if they are not diseased as a preventive measure.So, choose wisely.
Contact –
Dr G. Karunakaran
ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Experimental Farm, Hirehalli
NH4 Bangalore- Pune Highway
TUMKUR -572168, KARNATAKA
Email : karanstg@gmail.com
Mobile No. 9483233804
Office:0816-2243214; 2243792