Former PM Deve Gowda urges Centre to set up National Board for tamarind, jackfruit and jamun

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister and Rajya Sabha Member H D Deve Gowda on Friday urged Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chauhan to set up a national board for nutritionally rich fruit crops such as tamarind, jackfruit and jamun.

In a letter to the Union Minister, Gowda pointed out that tamarind, jackfruit and jamun are sacred, nutritionally rich fruit crops that have been grown in India over centuries.

Gowda, who met Chouhan, presented a jackfruit specially brought from Shidlaghatta in Kolar district along with a memorandum.

Gowda pointed out that these crops are organically grown and require low rainfall and are being cultivated at relatively low cost. Tamarind is grown widely across the country, with larger cultivation in Central, Eastern and Southern India, while jackfruit and jamun are predominantly cultivated in Southern, Central, Eastern and Eastern states of India.

Referring to cultivation practices, Gowda observed that traditionally these crops were grown using seeds, but in recent years grafted seedlings have become common, resulting in improved yield and quality. Despite large-scale production and harvesting every year, he noted that a significant portion of the fruits remains unharvested and under utilised.

He attributed this to challenges such as difficulty in harvesting, lack of assured buyers, inadequate processing facilities and limited access to cold storage centres for growers across the country a statement said.

In the letter he highlighted that these fruits and their by-products enjoy high demand in domestic as well as export markets, including demand from pharmaceutical industries.

Gowda stressed the need to ensure the supply of quality grafted planting material, timely technical know-how, proper harvesting technology, insurance support for harvesters and the formation of Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs).

Deve Gowda underscored the potential of a structured national framework to strengthen production, processing and marketing of these traditional fruit crops and enhance the incomes of growers across the country, the statement said.