There is a need for farmers to get their unique jackfruit varieties registered with PPVFRA (Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority), according to Sanjay Kumar Singh, Director of the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR).
Speaking to businessline on the sidelines of a jackfruit festival at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, he said the varieties registered under this get royalty on the price at which the plant is sold.
Research institutions like IIHR help farmers get such varieties’ medicinal value, usage, and processing value. These registered varieties can be commercialised. IIHR also aids in propagating the farmers’ varieties. When such varieties are cultivated on large areas, quantity increases, and this paves the way fororganised retail.
He said jackfruit grows in different States of the country and in tropical, sub-tropical, arid and semi-arid regions.
Process at least 60% of output
Stating that IIHR, Bengaluru, has conserved around 400 varieties of jackfruit, he said it is collaborating with farmers in different regions where the jackfruit diversity is there. Apart from cataloguing, the institute conserves them at its centre. These varieties have different characteristics in size, colour of the flake, nutritional value and the season of ripening.
He suggested that the state biodiversity boards spend money on conserving unique varieties of jackfruit. Such an effort can help conserve such varieties at research institutes and germ-plasm sites designated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
Stakeholders in jackfruit sector should make efforts to bring at least around 60 per cent of the production to the processing sector so that processed products are available throughout the year. He said there is a need to develop jackfruit joints like modern food joints. All the dishes, processed products and planting materials should be available in such joints, he said.
In fact, raw jackfruit is emerging as a vegan meat in India and abroad, and the stakeholders should take advantage of such preferences of consumers, he said.