भारत में ड्रैगन फ्रूट की खेती में बाधाएँ

Dragon fruit or Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus), also called “The Wonderous Fruit” of the twenty-first century, belongs to the family Cactaceae. It is native to a region of Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the northern South of the United States. Its cultivation is tremendous in Southeast Asia, Florida, the Caribbean, and subtropical international locations. Even though it is commercially cultivated in other nations, India has not attained a commercial cultivation reputation.

It is one of India's more recent fruit crops. Dragon fruit or Pitahaya can be grown as a decorative crop and for consumption. They're used for manufacturing jam, jelly, ice cream, juice, wine, face-packs, etc. They're packed with vitamins and minerals and are also a rich source of antioxidants. They're utilized to control cancer and diabetes, decrease cholesterol levels and blood stress, save you from arthritis, and fight against aging.

The dragon fruit is considered thornless skin. The fruit is non-climatic, medium to massive in size, with flesh that ranges from white to pink in coloration. The tiny seeds are fed alongside fruit. The proximate composition of pink pitaya fruit from an organically grown farm in Malaysia (per one hundred gm) constitutes: moisture (87.3%), protein (0.16 g), fats (0.23 g), crude fibre (10.1 g), ash (zero.7g), carbohydrates (1.48 g), Ca (5.7 mg), Fe (340 mg), Mg (28.3 mg), P (23.0 mg), k (56.9 mg), Na (50.2 mg) and Zn (13.87 mg) (Khalili et al., 2006).

Concerning exceptional uses of Dragon fruit, younger stems of H. undatus are fit to be eaten, and fresh flower buds that can be eaten as greens, even as dried ones, are used for self-made remedies. In Taiwan, dry flowers are eaten up as greens, except this, it's also taken in the form of juice, jam, or preserves consistent with the taste wanted, besides being used as fresh table fruit (Luders, and Mc Mahon, G. (2006).

Dragon fruit is a fast-growing, perennial vine-like cactus that thrives in many tropical agro-ecologies due to its tolerance for heat, drought, poor soils, etc. However, it can be damaged by various environmental conditions, flawed cultivation methods, and management techniques.

Due to this, problems with dragon fruit may still arise, even in ideal circumstances, for the grower. As a result, in this stage, an effort is undertaken to enact major restrictions on the growing of dragon fruit, based mostly on the opinions of scientists, experts, and specialists. The knowledge of these restrictions is unquestionably beneficial for resolving researchable and coverage issues for the future effective growing of dragon fruit.

Constraints in Dragon Fruit Cultivation:

1. Nursery and varietal improvement-related problems

• Lack of knowledge and awareness among many nursery owners and farmers on ideal nursery procedures for dragon fruit, particularly in areas with poor soil and rainfed
• In addition to less complicated propagation by stem cuttings, worse-quality sapling materials are supplied by private nursery proprietors, who are frequently from adjacent towns.

Fig 1: Dragon Fruit Nursery

• The extremely high price and lack of high-quality seedling materials, the stem sapling substances can be had in three extraordinary forms, , cut fresh, rooted without soil bags, and rooted seedlings with soil luggage for easier, more accessible transportation, soil kinds, and climatic situations.
• The elimination of the need for nurseries and the preference for saplings of many types, particularly for spreading dragon fruit in drought-prone/degraded locations. Currently, nursery owners have saplings of one or both types, i.e., red skin with white flesh and red skin with red flesh. For this reason, desire has to receive to put together seedlings of all kinds in neighboring dragon orchards.
• The absence of seedling material for highly productive varieties suitable for processing and value addition.
• identifying and creating new species to address problems with erratic blooming and pollination.

2. Establishment of an orchard and Training system

• The majority of producers are unaware of the best planting approaches and periods of the year for the establishment of the orchard. The growers should know the website online for orchards, soil kinds, slopes,   drainage, runoff, and waterlogging
• At the level of marginal and small farmers, a huge early orchard establishment investment (INR 6-7 lakhs/ha) is the biggest barrier to dragon fruit production. It covers the cost of planting material, drip irrigation installation, and trellis machine (cement pole, steel or an iron ring, continuous pyramid, ‘T’ supports and iron cables and ladders, etc.). The use of readily available domestic trellis materials can help decrease this cost to some extent because of their endurance.

Fig 2: Dragon Fruit Orchard

3. Lack of established guidelines for cultivation operations for various agroclimatic areas.

For profitable dragon fruit farming and business ventures in varied agro-climatic zones, rapid effort in defining standard protocols/packages of production procedures is required. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize some important cultivation techniques, including the management of water, nutrients, weeds, canopy, insects, and diseases.

4. Poor or profuse blossoming, flower, fruit drop, yellowing and rotting/dropping as a result of excessive rainfall and temperature.

Problems with pollination, blooming, and yellowing/rotting are common in the production of dragon fruit. However, it varies in strength according to the distinct subtropical and tropical regions' temperature and rainfall patterns. Additionally, it occurred in several agro-climatic regions of India, particularly during the summer and monsoon seasons, and it decreased crop losses by 40% at a particular harvesting level. Even in rare cases, between 70 and 100 percent depending on how often, how long, and how intense the rains occurred at some point in the flowering night. A combination of general cultivation, nutrient-water management techniques, and a programme for varietal development can be used to alleviate the problem because dragon fruit is well suited to semi-humid regions and depends on rich soils for organic growth.

For blossoms to decrease on the initial level of fruit development to occur in the summer, additional heat in conjunction with water stress is necessary (April–June). The best way to prevent floral decline in the summer is to utilize shade netting and top-notch irrigation systems. Similar to the previous example, additional rain or moisture during the peak fruiting season (July to October) is another crucial factor that contributes to dying and decaying vegetation.

It can be fixed by keeping plants dry until the fruits have developed, after which they can be watered to produce more fruit of higher quality. According to preliminary observations, fruit drop during the monsoon season happens in five distinct stages:

1. moisture absorption in flower buds.
2. flower loss.
3. yellowing of flowers and fruit still on the plant.
4. fungi intrusion.
5. reduction of corolla component by fruit fly larvae.

5. Stunted growth sunburning of canopy

Seventy-five to ninety-five percent of dragon fruit growers in India cautiously correlate heat stress with stunted boom and sunburn accidents. It occurred particularly in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Southern India throughout the summer (Fig. 20). The ailment first arose in March and April when temperatures above 38C were at their best during the day and at night (Arivalagan et al., 2019).

Sunburning plant systems and leaves can range in severity from 10% to 50%. If sunburn develops in the first section just after transplanting sapling fabric due to severe summertime temperatures in dryland locations of Marathwada, even the complete loss of an orchard may result (Maharashtra). To overcome this issue, a trial-and-error effort should be made to cultivate dragon fruit to control the sunburn damage on the dragon fruit by applying anti-transpirants.

6. A decrease in the size and yield of the fruit

This is a common problem that various farmers encounter, typically once every two years at the very least in older orchards (after 8–10 years), primarily during the first and second harvesting. However, by using the best agronomic strategies for managing nutrients and water, this issue can be resolved.

7. Non-uniform size of fruit

This is a typical issue that arises in all varieties of dragon fruit orchards from the beginning to the end of the fruiting season. However, it is more intense towards the beginning and end of the dragon fruit harvest. Retaining the right fruit density and soil moisture-nutrient management techniques at the beginning of fruiting can resolve the problem.

8. Techniques used in harvesting, cleaning, and grading

• Fruit harvesting: Typically, the fruit is picked 30 to 35 days after flowering, when the skin colour shifts from green to red, resulting in superior firmness and high-quality consumption. Harvesting is done manually and with the aid of modest hand-held equipment in India (sickle, cutter, and picker). For harvesting dragon fruit, it is possible to improve on currently available tools or create brand-new machinery.
• Fruit washing, sorting, and grading are now done manually because the rates of rest are determined by exceptional grades based on fruit length, colour, and weight (Grade A, B, C).

9. Post-Harvest handling

India prefers to consume fresh dragon fruit over manufactured goods. For the shining dragon outcome, the emphasis must be on standardizing submit-harvest management procedures. Clean dragon fruit's shelf life is shortened by four major physiological illnesses, including chilling damage, mechanical damage, animal damage, and water loss if proper precautions are not taken (Hsu et al., 2018). Sparkling dragon fruit quality is impacted by bacterial (Xanthomonas campestris) and fungal (Dothiorella spp.) infections. Therefore, it is necessary to manage illness both in the fields and throughout the post-harvest handling phase.

 Standardized post-harvest control can effectively address the following components of the fee chain that are frequently determined weaker in    India for unique greens and results including dragon fruit. Commonplace everyday practices that facilitate maintenance of better extraordinary, better expenses, larger markets, and regular supply can enhance farmers' earnings.

10. Marketing and Capacity building

A segment has clearly defined information regarding advertising channels and dragon fruit pricing ranges. However, seasonal output surpluses and imports from other countries stimulate unpredictable market charges. The main obstacles for Indian farmers are Vietnam and Thailand. Another major barrier is the lack of an educated labour force for dragon fruit production, marketing, and post-harvest management.

11. Researchable problems with the cultivation of dragon fruits

The demand for dragon fruit, which is always growing due to its numerous bioactive and nutraceutical ingredients, has opened up new opportunities for study into, development of, and extension of this underutilized crop's potential. Even though dragon fruit is sold as a delicious fruit in India, there is a need to turn it into a profitable crop on degraded land by solving the following crucial researchable issues.

(a)     Genetic improvement:

1. Identifying, enhancing, and assessing the general performance of several dragon fruit varieties for biotic and abiotic pressure tolerance, particularly for degraded areas.
2. Research to gain a better understanding of how dragon fruit can tolerate waterlogging, soil salinity, frost, and heat challenges using contemporary physiological, microbiological, and biotechnological approaches and traits for strain-resistant genotype screening.

(b)     Production of crops:

1. Localized research that standardizes plant multiplication and orchard practices.
2. Research on multi-location field trials to design fashionable cultivating techniques for varied agro-climatic zones.

Researchers are studying the soil-plant-water of the family under stress situations in the production of dragon fruit and their management techniques. The development of integrated water, soil-nutrient, weed, and canopy control strategies on abiotically confused degraded land ought to be the main focus. By ageing they optimizing agricultural procedures, key issues like blossoms, pollination, and sunburn damage may be addressed.

(c)     Protection of Crops from biotic and abiotic stress:

1. creation of an integrated pest programme to address pest and disease problems while placing a major emphasis on pleasant management practices and the environment.
2. software solutions that are weather-resistant, i.e., precision farming and residue management, which lessen the impact of abiotic and biotic pressures on dragon fruit.

(d)     Marketing and handling after harvest:

1. To reduce post-harvest losses in dragon fruit, standardizing harvesting and post-harvest procedures. The focus should be on creating kinds of dragon fruit that are suitable for processing, marketing, and advertising.
2. Creating a database of dragon fruit farmers, distributors, and relevant scientists for cooperative research and outreach efforts to popularize the fruit.
3. It's crucial to do studies on improving the infrastructure and implementing aggressive marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Worldwide, it is uncommon to find information on the production and marketing of recently introduced tropical dragon fruit crops. The research that is now available indicates that dragon fruit farming is expanding in tropical south Asian countries.

The most important dragon fruit-producing nations are Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, the USA, Australia, and South Africa. At the same time, China consumes dragon fruit virtually exclusively. Being a robust crop, it has been given the ability to flourish in India's degraded and rainfed regions under a variety of agro-climatic conditions in addition to several health and therapeutic benefits.

Many creative farmers began producing dragon fruit for their own consumption. Due to increasing demand and limited commercial producers, dragon fruit production and marketability are expected to increase. The current state of the market suggests that some locations should be investigated without harming other cultivable land areas designated for a different crop. Additionally, the cost of importing this fruit is higher than the cost of producing it in India.

To meet this demand, the possibility of year-round cultivation of dragon fruit along with production from damaged and dryland areas was identified as bridging the gap between demand and supply.

Various constraints were identified in dragon fruit cultivation, including high initial costs, standardization of nursery and cultivation practices, attacks from insect pests and diseases, sunburn, yellowing/dropping of flora and fruits, low yield, the short shelf life of culmination, and lack of marketing infrastructure.

Governments and private research firms in India worked collaboratively with scientists, growers, entrepreneurs, and consultants to identify the researchable and policy issues related to helpful resource management technology, the development of a variety of appropriate types for processing, and the marketing of dragon results.

In order to increase the income of marginal and small-scale farmers in dryland areas, the endeavour has started employing a number of national agricultural departments, government-financed corporations, and private/cooperative agencies to promote basic material crops.

In the near future, there should be enough interest required to reduce post-harvest losses using modern post-harvest techniques and profitable marketing of fresh dragon fruit.

References

Arivalagan, M., Sriram, S., Karunakaran, G., 2019. Dragon fruit country report from India. FFTC Agricultural Policy Platform (FFTC–AP). pp. 1–8.

Hsu, M.C., Lin, Y., Huang, C.C., Lin, C.P., 2018. Postharvest handling management of pitaya (Hylocereus spp.). Conference: Dragon Fruit Regional Network Initiation Workshop and Steering Committee Meeting held at Taipei and Taichung, Taiwan. pp.125–131.

Khalili, A. A. H. A. 2014. Effect of MS Medium Strength and IBA on Rooting of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus Polyrhizus) (Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Putra Malaysia). 34: 269-75.

Luders L, McMahon G. The pitaya or dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus). A note 778. No: D42. Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines, Northern Territory Government, Australia, 2006.

Authors:

Vishal Malik^1*, Shilpa Rana², and Kanwar Singh³

^1*Research scholar, ²Research scholar, ³Research scholar

Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute,

Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj-211007

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