Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala, among the leading jackfruit growers in the country, produces 28.6 crore jackfruits annually.
When it comes to the State's official fruit, Idukki district leads the list with 5.7 crore jackfruits, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (2.6 crore) and Kannur (2.6 crore), according to the latest estimation of the Agricultural department.
The Malappuram and Kozhikode districts produce 2.4 crore and 2.1 crore jackfruits a year respectively while Alappuzha fares comparatively poor at 60 lakh. The jackfruit production in Kollam, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Kasargod, and Pathanamthitta districts range from 1.1 crore to 1.9 crore. The Malabar region alone churns out 12.2 crore jackfruits every year.
The jackfruit trees are grown on 93209 hectares of land in the State, out of which 17028 hectares are in Idukki.
Kerala announced jack fruit as the State’s official fruit on March 21, 2018, ahead of introducing the ‘Kerala Jack Fruit’ brand at national and international levels. Though the initiative aimed to increase the production and marketing of jack fruits, the State failed to make any headway.
Announcements remain on paper
Every budget mentions measures to increase the fruit production, but nothing translates to action.
Though a six-day international workshop, spending lakhs, was held at Ambalavayal in Wayanad in August 2017 to spread awareness on jackfruits' health and nutritional benefits, no follow-up action was done on the recommendations.
A sum of Rs five crore was set aside in the first budget of the Pinarayi Vijayan government for purposes, including the clinical study of jack fruit. However, nothing happened in this regard.
Similarly, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, during the presentation of the first budget of the second Pinarayi government, promised measures to support product diversification, value addition, and marketing, but no further action was taken.
