Organic jack fruits of Wayanad to conquer U.S. taste buds

Organic jackfruit being loaded to be taken for processing at the Wayanad Social Service Society. Photo: E.M.Manoj

The jackfruits from Wayanad are being got ready to conquer the American taste buds.

The Wayanad Social Service Society (WSSS), a non-governmental organisation in the district, has initiated to export the processed organic jack fruits to the U.S.

There are 566 certified organic farmers under the organisation and we have been procuring ripened jack fruits from them as well as the other certified organic farmers in the district at a reasonable rate of Rs.2.50 a kg, P. A. Jose, organic programme coordinator, WSSS said.

Mr. Jose said that they were planning to procure as much as 120 tonnes of ripened organic jack fruits from the different parts of the district during the season and it would be exported to the US after processing it at a plant in Trichy in Tamilnadu.

The organic farmers would fetch Rs.25 to Rs.40 for an average jack fruit and many of the farmers got Rs.1000 from a jack fruit tree, he added.

We are getting Rs.5 a kg of jack fruit but we have to spend Rs. 2.50 for transportation and other expenses, he added.

If the government take initiation for set up a jackfruit processing centre in the district, the farmers would get a better price for their produce, he said.

We had got bulk enquires for organic tinned jack fruit from Austria and Germany this year, but the availability of organic jack fruit production was comparatively less in the district, hence we could not accept those orders, Fr. John Choorapuzhayil, Director, WSSS said.

There is immense potential for set up an agro processing centre in the district to make the value added products from the jack fruit under the public or private sector, the farming sources said.

Owing to the lack of a processing centre, the farmers have been compelled to sell their produce to the traders from neighbouring states at a low price or more than 60 percent of the fruit producing in the district has gone waste, they said.Caption- Alex C Mathew , Joint Director , Agriculture department , inaugurating the procurement of Organic Jackfruits from the district at function held at Mananthavadi in Wayanad district recently.