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The production, consumption and marketing of the fruit crops, especially the commercially produced ones, have gained their own place as the second large pillar of horticulture, after the vegetables. Unfortunately not all crops coming under the category of “fruits” are harvested from huge commercial orchards, loaded with selective and effective inputs, packed with expensive kits and even transported along miles of distance for being exported. A vast portion of the fruit family also exits that are random bearers and most underrated. More than about 150 species of such fruit crops exists and are referred to as stray fruits/ minor fruits/ under-utilised fruits/ under-exploited fruits/ lesser-known fruits/ wild fruits,etc. These are usually numerable, stand as a single tree or an aggregation of a few at a particular area, lasting from months or years back. Some of the recognized names are Passion Fruit, Fig, Karonda, Persimmon, Loquat, Kiwi, Phalsa, Carambola, Mangosteen, Mulberry, etc. while some other like Bilimbi, Hog plum, Elephant apple, Durian, Bread Fruit  are even lesser known in Indian states, in spite of some being the native to India.             

The sad part of this group of flora is that they are not manually regulated, starting from their propagation till the end of their life span. The category is basically nature dependent for growth, where the planting material follows the process of germination, blossoming, etc. only when tapped by the nature. These fruit crops are usually self-occurring humus feeders, wind harvesters and the canopy is often managed by natural calamities. Though the management is non-commercial here, the production and distribution of these fruits is indefinite. And where the same is negligible, there is no question of marketing. Even if some fruits are fate-favored, they are limited only to the trolleys of some fitful vendors, earning them hardly a lunch for the day.

However, irrespective of their habit, habitat, abundance and the ongoing market demands, they are no less contributors of luscious flavor, nutrition, aesthetic gratification and vital medicinal values to the society. In contrast, most of the values are only restricted to the pages of Horticultural text books. It would be surprising to know that in India still many of the fruits from the list are potentially higher in terms of local consumption rate, culinary utility, spiritual demand, etc. and gain tremendous values in comparison to the frequently available ones. Some fruits are even found effective against deadly cancerous diseases, hypoglycemia, heart diseases, dermatological disorders, hair abnormality, sexual dis-functioning, ageing, etc. A number of the stray fruits help tuning up of the CNS and stabilising the body red blood cells count as the primary function.

It is acceptable that there is a strong reason for the minor fruits to be under-utilised. Perhaps due to the fact that most of the minor fruits are non-palatable and without an eye-catching morphology, unlike other dominant fruits, these are swiped out of the marketing chain system. Selection of promising varieties of such fruit crops, followed by analytical studies on their physiological and genetic behaviour along with the chemical components present in them would perhaps be the front line revolution to their success. Moreover, understanding the values of food security, the studies and researches on the minor fruits are to be prioritised and simultaneously creating commercial orchards for their smooth cultivation, establishment of small scale industries, as startups, for the post-harvest treatments especially grading and packaging is also a vital factor.

The produce, in some cases, may not be consumed raw but can be effectively converted into wide range of value added products like pickles, marmalade, jam and jellies, squash, etc. indulging a large number of youths to find their way to self-employment. Due to the medicinal significance, a number of stray fruits can provide raw materials for the pharmaceutical industries and Ayurvedic homes for manufacture of drugs and medicines out of their dried flesh, rind or kernels. Again, the same can be made to contribute to the wine industries, oil industries, fibre industries, etc. as well.

Last but not the least, introducing and popularising the minor fruits in all over the nation through advertisements of value added products, extension educations through campaign programs and setting up of fruit kiosks at affordable prices would even add to the purpose.Large more aspects are yet to be covered in order to encourage the production and productivity of stray fruits. However, these stray fruits are under-exploited resources of our nation which perhaps deserves, not just an extended syllabus, but an ultimate ‘Minor Fruit Revolution’ in the coming days.

Bimal Dash

Master in Horticulture (Fruit Science)

email:@bimaldash.ar@gmail.com

Kinnow belongs to the citrus group of fruits. It is botanically known as Citrus reticulate Blanco with a chromosome number of 2n=18. It is also known as King’s willow mandarin, an interspecific hybrid between Citrus nobilis x Citrus deliciosa. It was first developed by H.B Frost in the year 1915 at the University of California Research Center, Riverside.

In India, kinnow came in acquaintance during 1954 when it was first introduced by J.C Bakshi at the Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Fruit Research Station, Abohar. Kinnow gain its popularity in India mainly due to its high yielding attribute as well as of its flavor also. The tree grows vigorously and has an upright form, with a strong tendency of bearing heavy fruit yield. The fruit is the rich source of vitamin C and their daily consumption protects mankind from scurvy. The rind of the citrus fruit contains a number of alkaloids, out of which is limonene which have the potential to act as an insect repellent.

Prayagraj comes under the sub-tropical region of India, due to its climatic conditions it experience only one bahar in a year i.e mrig bahar (winter flowering). The kinnow orchard of SHUATS was first established by W.B Hayes in the late 90’s who was the British Agriculture scientist also the first HOD(Head of Department) of Department of Horticulture, SHUATS. The soil of the Prayagraj is clay loam which is enrich with nutrients and also good for the cultivation of most of the fruit crops. And thus this soil type provides suitable environment for the growth of micro-organisms and suitable for the use of bio-fertilizers. Being a sub-tropical region, it experiences a hot dry summer with a maximum temperature of 48°C. Due to this, kinnow cultivation at Prayagraj region need more frequent irrigation in order to prevent the june drop. It experiences an annual rainfall of 981mm (approx) which leads to the heavy infestation of flies and moth in the kinnow plants and causes a huge pre-harvest loss (upto 80-90% yield losses).

Kinnow is a nutrient loving plant and requires an adequate amount of nutrients in order to produce a good quality yield. It also requires a fair quantity of micronutrients in order to enhance its juice quality. Use of organic farming as well as bio-fertilizer reported to increase the quality of fruits as well as it helps in restoring the soil nutrients in a natural way. It not only provides good quantity of nutrients to plants also helps in saving the soil fauna. One can use bio-fertilizers like Azotobacter, PSB (Phosphorus Solublizing Bacteria), Azospirillum as a replacement of chemical fertilizer. These bio-fertilizers require substrate to grow, so using FYM as a substrate is very effective. FYM not only serves as a good substrate for these eco-friendly bacteria but also acts as a chelate and makes other micronutrient available to plants.

Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) under acidic or calcareous, fixes large amounts of phosphorus in the soil but are unavailable to the plants. Phosphobacterins are mainly bacteria and fungi which can make insoluble phosphorus available to the plants. The solublization effect of phosphobacterins is generally due to the production of organic acids that lower the soil pH and bring about the dissolution of bound forms of phosphate and hence making the soil available with the phosphorus. Azospirillum is the associative symbiotic nitrogen fixer, aerobic bacteria, which have the ability to associate with growing root system of a variety of crop plants. This nitrogen-fixing Azospirillum when applied to the soil undergoes multiplication and fixes atmospheric nitrogen in the soil for utilization of various crops. Azospirillum is a gram-negative bacteriumthat fixes atmospheric nitrogen and makes it available to plants in non symbiotic manner. Azotobacter, aerobic, free living bacteria, acts as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in the rhizosphere of almost all crops. Azotobacters are abundant in well-drained, neutral soil. They can fix 15-20kg/ha N per year. Azotobacter spp. can also produce antifungal compounds to fight against many plant pathogens.

In order ensure the maximum benefit of these bio-fertilizers; it is very important to apply them in a right way. These fertilizers are mainly applied along with compost, mix the recommended amount of bio-fertilizer with the compost and leave it overnight in order to multiply the bacteria in compost and then apply it. In this may the bio-fertilizers give the best result.

Kinnow mandarins are medium sized with thin, tight and orange colored skin. It is rich in vitamin-C, sugars and in addition to this it also contain vitamin-A, vitamin-B, and vitamin-K and contains a sweet sour taste. Due to this it fetches a high price in the market and also utilized by the processing industry. India earns a sizable amount of foreign exchange by exporting kinnow to various countries of the world like Iran, Singapore, Qatar, Nepal, Switzerland etc. In India, the best quality of kinnow was obtained from the Nagpur region of Maharashtra where these fruits got its characteristic flavor due to the climatic conditions of that region.

Kinnow is also heavily attacked by insect and pest out of which one of the most damaging pests of kinnow is fruit sucking moth (Eudocima fullonia). They mainly puncture the fruit and suck out the juice from them, a heavy infestation results in yield loss of upto 80-90% was reported. As they are nocturnal in nature it is hard to control them, setting light trap or poison bait is effecting against them. Dilute suspension of fermented molasses or jaggery and malation 0.05% (50 EC at 1ml/l) as poison bait is effective, or bagging of fruits with 500 gauge polythene bags also prevent the adult moth attack.

Plant nutrients are the key factor in order to increase the fruit yield. Adopting organic means of farming practices are not immediate result giving but it improves the quality of fruits in the successive years. Organic farming improves the soil physical properties such as aeration, texture, water holding capacity, infiltration as well as chemical properties such as pH, CEC, etc. Apart from this the price of organic produce are fetching good price in the market. So, this is the high time that we should slowly move towards the organic farming and make our food a little more healthy and free from chemicals. Thus keeping in mind, the climatic conditions and the soil type of the Prayagraj region adoption the organic farming not only in Kinnow but in other fruit crops not only helps in enhancing the fruit yield but also helps in restoring the soil fertility.

Mandeep Rawat

Msc.Fruit Science (Student), SHUATS, Prayagraj

email:mandeeprawat107@gmail.com