Jackfruit
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is popularly known as the poor man’s food in the eastern and southern parts of India. A rich source of vitamin A, C, and minerals, it also supplies carbohydrates. Tender jackfruits are popularly used as vegetable. The skin of the fruit and its leaves are excellent cattle feed. Its timber is valued for furniture making since it is rarely attacked by white ants. The latex from the bark contains resin. Pickles and dehydrated leather are its preserved delicacies. Canning of flakes can be done. They can be bottled and served after mixing with honey and sugar. Nectar is prepared from its pulp. The rind rich in pectin, can be used for making jelly. The flakes, seeds, sterile flowers, skin and core contain calcium pectate 4.6, 1.6, 3.7, 3.2 and 2.1% respectively. They are considered as a good sources of pectin.
Climate and soil
Jackfruit can be grown on a wide variety of soils but it grows well in a rich, deep, alluvial and well-drained soil. It can also be grown on open textured or lateritic soil provided sufficient nutrients are available. It is preferred in homesteads, as a shade-tree or as a mixed crop. It grows well in a warm, humid climate up to an elevation of 1,500m. In south India, it performs satisfactorily in arid and warmer plains. However, it cannot tolerate cold and frost.
Varieties
Being a cross-pollinated and mostly seed propagated, its innumerable types of fruits differ widely in density of spines, rind, bearing, size, shape, quality and period of maturity. Local selections are named as ‘Gulabi’ (rose-scented), ‘Champa’ (flavour like that of champak) and ‘Hazar’ (bearing a large number of fruits). There are 2 broad groups of cultivated types—soft-fleshed and firm-fleshed. Rudrakshi has common pumello-sized fruits with smooth rind and less spines, whereas Singapore or Ceylon Jack, introduced from Ceylon, is highly precocious. Sometimes it produces light off-season crop between September and December. Muttam Varikka is another important variety producing fruits of 7kg each.
A lot of variability occurs in evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, Gorakhpur, Dewaria (40kg-sized fruits) and Allahabad (small with white, juice and soft pulp) districts of Uttar Pradesh. Some of these types produce small-to-medium-sized fruits with small seeds and thin skin, offering a great potential for the varietal improvement. Jackfruit NJT 1, NJT 2, NJT 3 and NJT 4 collections from Faizabad have large fruits of excellent quality with bulbs having low fibre. They are suitable for table purpose. NJC 1, NJC 2, NJC 3 and NJC 4 have small-to medium-sized fruits with thin rind and soft flesh. They are suitable for culinary purpose. Varikka, Koozha and Navarikka (Pazam Varikka) types are available in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka with maximum density in Wynad Plateau in the Western Ghats.
Propagation
Jackfruit is commonly propagated through seeds. Seeds should be sown immediately after extraction since they lose their viability during storage. Soaking seeds in 25ppm NAA for 24hr improves their germination and seedling growth. Air-layering, grafting (inarching and epicotyl) and budding (forkert, chip and patch) are means of its vegetative propagation. At Konkan, it gives a success of 50–90% through epicotyl grafting performed during April–May, with grafts attaining planting size within a year.
Cultivation
Planting
The plants of Jackfruit should be planted in a square system (hexagonal if the soil is less fertile) 12m apart. June–August is ideal time for planting. The tap root system along with plants should not be disturbed while planting. The young plants should be protected from stray goats and cattle. Protective irrigations are necessary initially at 12–15 days intervals depending on soil and climatic conditions. The plants should be trained by removing lower branches.
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is popularly known as the poor man’s food in the eastern and southern parts of India. A rich source of vitamin A, C, and minerals, it also supplies carbohydrates. Tender jackfruits are popularly used as vegetable. The skin of the fruit and its leaves are excellent cattle feed. Its timber is valued for furniture making since it is rarely attacked by white ants. The latex from the bark contains resin. Pickles and dehydrated leather are its preserved delicacies. Canning of flakes can be done. They can be bottled and served after mixing with honey and sugar. Nectar is prepared from its pulp. The rind rich in pectin, can be used for making jelly. The flakes, seeds, sterile flowers, skin and core contain calcium pectate 4.6, 1.6, 3.7, 3.2 and 2.1% respectively. They are considered as a good sources of pectin.
Climate and soil
Jackfruit can be grown on a wide variety of soils but it grows well in a rich, deep, alluvial and well-drained soil. It can also be grown on open textured or lateritic soil provided sufficient nutrients are available. It is preferred in homesteads, as a shade-tree or as a mixed crop. It grows well in a warm, humid climate up to an elevation of 1,500m. In south India, it performs satisfactorily in arid and warmer plains. However, it cannot tolerate cold and frost.
Varieties
Being a cross-pollinated and mostly seed propagated, its innumerable types of fruits differ widely in density of spines, rind, bearing, size, shape, quality and period of maturity. Local selections are named as ‘Gulabi’ (rose-scented), ‘Champa’ (flavour like that of champak) and ‘Hazar’ (bearing a large number of fruits). There are 2 broad groups of cultivated types—soft-fleshed and firm-fleshed. Rudrakshi has common pumello-sized fruits with smooth rind and less spines, whereas Singapore or Ceylon Jack, introduced from Ceylon, is highly precocious. Sometimes it produces light off-season crop between September and December. Muttam Varikka is another important variety producing fruits of 7kg each.
A lot of variability occurs in evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, Gorakhpur, Dewaria (40kg-sized fruits) and Allahabad (small with white, juice and soft pulp) districts of Uttar Pradesh. Some of these types produce small-to-medium-sized fruits with small seeds and thin skin, offering a great potential for the varietal improvement. Jackfruit NJT 1, NJT 2, NJT 3 and NJT 4 collections from Faizabad have large fruits of excellent quality with bulbs having low fibre. They are suitable for table purpose. NJC 1, NJC 2, NJC 3 and NJC 4 have small-to medium-sized fruits with thin rind and soft flesh. They are suitable for culinary purpose. Varikka, Koozha and Navarikka (Pazam Varikka) types are available in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka with maximum density in Wynad Plateau in the Western Ghats.
Propagation
Jackfruit is commonly propagated through seeds. Seeds should be sown immediately after extraction since they lose their viability during storage. Soaking seeds in 25ppm NAA for 24hr improves their germination and seedling growth. Air-layering, grafting (inarching and epicotyl) and budding (forkert, chip and patch) are means of its vegetative propagation. At Konkan, it gives a success of 50–90% through epicotyl grafting performed during April–May, with grafts attaining planting size within a year.
Cultivation
Planting
The plants of Jackfruit should be planted in a square system (hexagonal if the soil is less fertile) 12m apart. June–August is ideal time for planting. The tap root system along with plants should not be disturbed while planting. The young plants should be protected from stray goats and cattle. Protective irrigations are necessary initially at 12–15 days intervals depending on soil and climatic conditions. The plants should be trained by removing lower branches.
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