A consignment of Dragon Fruit, was exported to after sourcing it from farmers of Tadasar village in Sangli District, Maharashtra.

About Dragon:

=> Fruit Dragon fruit is also referred to as “Kamalam”.

=> They are grown mostly in states including, Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

=> Its cultivation requires less water.

=> It can be grown in variety of soils.

=> There are three main varieties of dragon fruit:

• White flesh with pink skin,
• Red flesh with pink skin, and
• White flesh with yellow skin.

=> Fruit is rick in fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

=> It’s production was commenced in India in early 1990s.

=> Apart from India, Dragon fruit is cultivated in Southeast Asia, United States, Caribbean, Mesoamerica, Australia and throughout tropical & subtropical world regions.

=> It is a fruit of several different cactus species which is indigenous to America.

Background:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme, in July 2020, mentioned about dragon fruit farming in arid Kutch region of Gujarat. He congratulated farmers of Kutch for cultivation of fruit and for ensuring India’s self-sufficiency in production.

Renaming Dragon Fruit:

Gujarat government renamed dragon fruit as “Kamalam” in January 2021. Government has applied for a patent to change its nomenclature from Dragon Fruit to “Kamalam”. Name was changed as the government did not find dragon fruit proper.

About Sangli district:

Sangli is the largest district of Maharashtra. Industrial town of Kirloskarwadi is located in Sangli District. Industrialist Laxmanrao Kirloskar started his first factory in the city. This city is known as sugar bowl of India because of its high sugarcane productivity. It is also popular as a political power house of Maharashtra. District is often referred as Heaven of Farmers.