Hyderabad: It’s the time of the year when Annuna squmos L., more popularly known as custard apple, marks its presence in the city. The fruit, once taken for granted for its plentiful availability, is suddenly the toast of the season.
It has shot into the preferred list, including those of farmers, after its nutrition values came to the fore. The plant which consumes less water and is largely free of pesticides is suitable for cultivation across the state.
Grown in the forest tracts of Nallamala, Mulugu, Utnoor and Palvancha, the produce is unable to meet the needs of the local population.
Of the 1.55 crore acres of agricultural land in the state, paddy, cotton and maize account for 1.2 crore acres. Of the 1,28,932 acres earmarked for custard apple crop in the country, Maharashtra tops the list with 42,960 acres, while Telangana stands seventh with 2,291 acres.
“We used to export the fruit earlier but now it is being brought from other states. It used to be grown in Jalpally, Maheshwaram gardens and even Kukatpally, which all have become real estate spaces. Most of the produce we get is from Maharashtra and Bengaluru,” said Mohammed Hussain, owner of Lucky Fruit Shop in Moazzamjahi Market. He added that the famed Balanagar variety from Mahbubnagar district was not sufficiently available.
The state largely depends on supplies from other states to meet more than 70 per cent of its needs of vegetables and fruits, said traders at Jambagh. The state has just 12,95,913 acres under horticulture crops which include fruits, plantation crops, vegetables, spices, flowers and medicinal crops.
In their bid to change this situation, the horticulture department along with the central Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, have over the years given a subsidy of around ₹ 42,800 per hectare and promoted the cultivation of ‘sitaphal;. The impetus has resulted in farmers taking to custard apple crop over an area of 2,291.7 acres.
Officials point out that custard apples assure higher returns compared to mangos. Moreover, 640 custard apple plants can be grown in an acre compared to a mere 80 to 100 mango plants in the same area.
The department has promoted NMK-01 (golden) variety that has been developed by a farmer in Maharashtra.
But many farmers Deccan Chronicle spoke with informed they are yet to realise the promised benefits. “I grew this crop in five acres prodded by the incentives but I am yet to see profits. I opted for the Maharashtra variety as the yield is higher,” said Madhavaram Bhaskar Rao.
The sentiment was shared by B. Subhash Chandra Reddy, 72, from Rachaluru of Kandukur mandal who has grown the crop in 10 acres.
L. Santhosh, who loves custard apples, says that the hybrid varieties, which have a lot more pulp, don’t taste the same as the native variety.
Officials of the horticulture department aver that the situation will change as the availability of the fruit in the wild was falling. In three to four years, the plantations which are coming up in the state will bear fruit.
“We procure the fruit from the forests. They fetch ₹ 100 to ₹ 120 per kg which we sell coming all the way from Veldurthi in Medak district. After coming here we don’t have any designated selling points and hence are subject to problems from the police,” said Anitha Banoth, selling her fruits on the SD Road in Secunderabad. Her relative K. Mallesh informed that they end up saving ₹ 1,000 to ₹ 1,200 on an average every day during the season.
