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Investing in Karnataka’s Jackfruit: A Profitable Proposal
Abstract
Jackfruit is an indigenous, superabundant resource in Karnataka, but currently, 75% of it
is simply wasted. This wastage represents enormous lost opportunity for financial profit and food
security. The national and international contexts for jackfruit imminently indicate that now is the
time for Karnataka to invest in developing a commercial jackfruit industry. Case studies of the
successful commercialization of the potato, pomegranate, and pineapple provide valuable
insights: the successful commercialization of the jackfruit requires the research and identification
of the top jackfruit varieties, development of jackfruit-specific processing technologies, and
strategic marketing of jackfruit and its products. Hawaii, Sri Lanka, Maharashtra, and Kerala
bear precedents for the implementation of these activities. Karnataka should establish a Jackfruit
Institute and Jackfruit Processing Centers to usher in a bright future for jackfruit and for
Karnataka.
Introduction
This policy proposal argues that the Karnataka State Horticulture Department/Mission1
should fund jackfruit research and the establishment of jackfruit processing centers to develop a
commercial jackfruit industry in Karnataka, India. This proposal explains why a commercial
jackfruit industry should be developed in Karnataka and then explains how, leveraging evidence
from case studies of the potato, pineapple, and pomegranate and from precedents for jackfruit
research and industry development in Hawaii, Sri Lanka, Maharashtra, and Kerala. An appendix
provides photographs of Indian jackfruit products and entrepreneurs and a brief biography of the
author.
This policy proposal begins with explanation of the abundant opportunity for financial
profit and food security through the creation of a jackfruit industry. This proposal then discusses
the national and international context for the development of a jackfruit industry in Karnataka
and provides an evidence-based plan of action to create a thriving jackfruit industry in
Karnataka.
1
This proposal will be sent separately to both the Karnataka State Horticulture Department and the Karnataka State
Horticulture Mission.
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Enormous Opportunity: From Jackfruit Wastage to Financial Profit and Food Security
Jackfruit trees in Karnataka
bear 235,000 metric tons of jackfruit
annually (Department of Horticulture,
Government of Karnataka 2009). The
jackfruit is the world’s largest tree-
borne fruit, weighing up to fifty2
kilograms (APAARI 2012). A typical
jackfruit tree yields 200 to 250 fruits,
each weighing five to thirty-five
kilograms (Ghosh 1996). Indigenous
to the rain forests of India’s Western
Ghats (APAARI 2012), the jackfruit
is an impressively abundant natural
resource of southern India. However,
an estimated 75% of total production
is wasted (APAARI 2012),
representing vast lost opportunity to
strengthen food security and the
incomes of agricultural families.
There are a variety of reasons
for jackfruit wastage, including the
2
The largest jackfruit on record, however, reported in Panruti, Tamil Nadu, India, weighed eighty-one kilograms
(APAARI 2012).
Figure 1. A jackfruit tree, an agribusiness professor (left) and
two entrepreneurs who recently began processing jackfruit.
Figure 2. A jackfruit seed within a jackfruit bulb.
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rapidity with which the fruit decomposes, the exceptional abundance of fruit from a single tree,
the high expense of transporting the heavy fruits, and the sticky latex and strong smell of the
inside of a fresh jackfruit. Jackfruit processing overcomes these reasons for wastage: processing
near the fruit source dramatically extends shelf-life, greatly reduces shipping cost,3
and
eliminates the potentially bothersome latex and smell from the ultimate consumer’s experience.
The ripe bulbs of a jackfruit can be processed to produce dried jackfruit, pulp, juice,
wine, ice cream, jelly, chips, pickles, and candies (see Appendix for photos). Unripe jackfruit has
meat-like taste and texture and can be canned or dried for use as a “vegetable meat” in various
dishes. The seeds can be roasted like chestnuts or processed to produce chutney powder for
seasoning or gluten-free flour for baking (APAARI 2012). These jackfruit products have
enormous potential to generate profits for producers. A study conducted by researchers at the
University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, found that value-added jackfruit products would
multiply returns from jackfruit marketed fresh by 2.5 to 6 times (Munishamanna et al. 2007).
Jackfruit has enormous potential to strengthen nutrition and food security, in addition to
economic security (Vinayak 2012; Jackfruit Promotion Council 2012). Twenty-one percent of
India’s population as a whole is malnourished (Thomson 2012), but a single tree provides 2,000
kilograms of jackfruit per year by a modest estimate (Ghosh 1996). The fruit bulbs are a strong
source of potassium, vitamin C, vitamin A, magnesium, and fiber (Swami et al. 2012). Phenolic
compounds, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and carotenoids also abound in jackfruit bulbs,
providing them with anticancer, antihypertensive, and anti-aging properties, and the potential to
help prevent various chronic diseases (Swami et al. 2012). The seeds, too, are a rich source of
starch, protein, and phytonutrients (Hettiarachchi et al. 2011).
3
For example, dried jackfruit bulbs have 5% the weight of a whole fresh jackfruit, which includes the outer rind,
inner fiber, seeds, and sticky latex in addition to the edible bulbs.
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Jackfruit has already served for many years as a nutritious staple food for thousands of
families with jackfruit trees (Jackfruit Promotion Council 2012; Shree Padre, personal
communication, December 4, 2012). Today, urbanization, lifestyle changes, and low awareness
of fruit harvesting and processing strategies have contributed to fruit wastage, especially because
extracting the edible bulbs and seeds from the sticky and fibrous inside of a jackfruit is a highly
labor-intensive process (Jackfruit Promotion Council 2012). Thus, if the fruits can be processed
and distributed to prevent wastage at the source or in transport, jackfruit can contribute a great
deal to India’s food security (Vinayak 2012; Jackfruit Promotion Council 2012). Because of the
fruit’s extraordinary abundance and underutilization in southern India, the fruit is very unlikely
to become too expensive for local consumption in the foreseeable future, even as the
development of a jackfruit industry connects supply to untapped markets (“Horticulture Mission”
2010; Shree Padre, personal communication, December 10, 2012).
No stable marketing chain has yet been established for fresh jackfruit and jackfruit
products in India, however: most sales occur in villages and on the roadside (APAARI 2012).
There are only a few commercial scale processing plants and about a dozen branded jackfruit
products in India (APAARI 2012; Padre 2011a). These products include canned tender jackfruit,
vacuum fried jackfruit chips, jackfruit papads, and jackfruit jam, among others, but do not
encompass dehydrated jackfruit, jackfruit seed flour, or jackfruit “vegetable meat” products
(Padre 2011a).
This situation of marked underutilization is not specific to jackfruit, however. The
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources focused its studies on sixteen “tropical underutilized
fruits” in 2010 but noted that India has 344 species of fruits that have vast potential for new
crops but are currently underutilized, growing in wild or semi-wild states (Malik et al. 2010). An
5. Ryu 5
underutilized fruit to make the transition to a well commercialized fruit would contribute
valuable lessons for the commercialization of other currently underutilized fruits.
Thus, developing a jackfruit industry in Karnataka will contribute valuably to economic
security and food security in the short-term and will contribute even more in the long-term as its
successes inform the development of other fruit industries. Current national and international
circumstances for the jackfruit show that now is the time to launch Karnataka’s jackfruit
industry.
The Time is Ripe: National and International Context
Although jackfruit is often perceived to be an inferior fruit, there is a large untapped
market for jackfruit and its products in India and internationally (Brahmavar 2012; DH News
Service 2012; Padre 2011a). Impressive successes in jackfruit product sales evidence the market
potential. Earlier this year, one processing unit initiated small-scale production of jackfruit toffee
and sold 5,000 in one month (Shree Padre, personal communication, September 12, 2012). A
professor who began farming in retirement sells 60,000 pieces of jackfruit toffee each year
without any publicity (Shree Padre, personal communication, September 14, 2012). The
Kadamba Marketing Co-operative, a farmers’ cooperative based in Sirsi, Karnataka, recently
initiated commercial production of jackfruit papads and jackfruit chips and sold 60,000 papads
and 600 kilograms of chips last year (APAARI 2012; Brahmavar 2012). In addition, most of the
jackfruit that reaches northern India is unripe jackfruit used for curry preparation: the market for
fresh jackfruit and jackfruit’s diverse value-added products has yet to be served (Vinayak 2012).
While demand for jackfruit in India alone exceeds supply capacity (Lal 2012), the fruit is
becoming increasingly popular in mainstream and ethnic markets in the US and UK as well as in
some Asian and Middle Eastern countries (APAARI 2012). Notably, jackfruit is the most
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expensive fruit on sale in Britain, priced at approximately 25 Euros, or Rs. 1638 (32.75 USD),
per fruit (Haq 2006). Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka are ahead of India in terms of
jackfruit utilization and exports (“National Jackfruit Fete” 2011; Padre 2011; Haq 2006).
Vietnam is the global leader in jackfruit products, with over twenty facilities producing
jackfruit chips (Padre 2011a). Of these facilities, Vinamit Trading Corporation is the largest: it
exports jackfruit chips to many countries, including the US, Russia, Germany, China, and Japan
(Padre 2011a). In Vietnam, jackfruit yields greater profits for small farmers than rubber does
(Padre 2011a). Thailand exports jackfruit products to the US and UK throughout the year (Haq
2006). Malaysia also exports jackfruit to the UK market, and, even in 1995, Malaysia earned
740,000 USD for exporting over 4,600 tons of fresh jackfruits to Singapore and Hongkong (Azad
2000). Today, Malaysia’s Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority and the Malaysian
Agricultural Research and Development Institute are promoting jackfruit processing, marketing
in Malaysia, and exporting (Padre 2011a). Sri Lanka is very advanced in its jackfruit processing
industry: at least a dozen Sri Lankan companies produce jackfruit products for export (Padre
2011a), and Sri Lanka has more than 200 processing units providing unripe and ripe jackfruit
bulbs for the local market (Padre 2011b). Meanwhile, in India, only one company has thus far
achieved scale in exporting jackfruit products, and this company produces only vacuum-dried
jackfruit chips (APAARI 2012).
The potential international market extends far beyond the supply capacities of existing
companies (APAARI 2012), and developing local capacities for jackfruit harvesting, processing,
and marketing will help ensure local benefit as international interest in jackfruit continues to
increase. Awareness of the types of jackfruit products possible remains low in India but has been
growing gradually, especially because of jackfruit festivals: since 2006, these festivals in Kerala
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and Karnataka have been occurring increasingly often, bringing jackfruit researchers, farmers,
processors, entrepreneurs, and fanatics to celebrate the fruit and its product potential (Padre
2006; “Jackfruit Movement” 2010). These festivals, as well as a variety of civil society
organizations, have helped to develop local capacities for jackfruit commercialization, such that
an increasing number of entrepreneurs are initiating jackfruit processing (Shree Padre, personal
communication, December 4, 2012; Jackfruit Promotion Council 2012).
Yet, while Karnataka is the leader in jackfruit production (Padre 2009), the neighboring
state of Kerala is ahead of Karnataka in civil society and governmental efforts to promote
jackfruit commercialization. In Kerala, jackfruit cultivators formed the Kanjirappuzha Farm
Club, the Ruchi Farmers Network, and the Group Rural Agricultural Marketing Association
(GRAMA) to promote jackfruit industry development in different regions (“Joining Hands”
2012; “Farmers’ Organisations Call”; CARD-Krishi Vigyan Kendra 2011). Kerala has the
Jackfruit Promotion Council, which proclaims itself a “national platform” for jackfruit promotion
(Jackfruit Promotion Council 2012), and the only Krishi Vigyan Kendra (CARD-Krishi Vigyan
Kendra, Pathnamthitta) that has made significant contributions to jackfruit commercialization
(Padre 2012b; Shree Padre, personal communication, December 4, 2012). The Kerala
Horticulture Mission agreed to provide funding and technological support for jackfruit
processing (“Horticulture Mission” 2010), and the Kerala Small Farmer’s Agribusiness
Consortium (SFAC) recently committed to providing training and guidance for entrepreneurs
working to initiate jackfruit processing (“Aid to Set Up” 2012).
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Horticulture Mission does not include the jackfruit in its
list of sixteen underutilized fruits of focus (Karnataka State Horticulture Mission n.d.); the
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Karnataka State Horticulture Department did not include jackfruit in the minor fruit4
promotion
scheme it launched in 2010 (Chandrashekhar 2010); and Karnataka SFAC is inactive (Shree
Padre, personal communication, December 4, 2012). Mangalore, Karnataka, has India’s largest
jackfruit product exporting company, but the other company known to export jackfruit products
is based in Kottayam, Kerala, and the vast majority of jackfruit sent to northern Indian states
comes from Kerala (Padre 2011b).
Evident national and international demand for jackfruit products, jackfruit festivals and
promotion efforts, and the greater advancement of other regions’ jackfruit industries strongly
indicate the pressing need for Karnataka to develop its jackfruit industry.
Building Karnataka’s Jackfruit Industry: Action Plan
In order to maximize success in building a jackfruit industry, Karnataka should learn
from historical examples of success in developing industries for new crops as well as from
ongoing efforts to promote the breadfruit and jackfruit. This action plan illuminates the need for
a jackfruit research institute and jackfruit processing centers in Karnataka and the steps to
establish these.
The potato, pineapple, and pomegranate are informative historical case studies, as each
crop overcame significant challenges in commercialization and was extremely successfully
introduced to new environments. These examples illustrate the importance of researching,
cultivating, and distributing the best varieties of a crop, of developing and utilizing crop-specific
processing technologies, and of introducing and strategically marketing value-added products.
The example of the potato is especially important for envisioning the potential trajectory
of the jackfruit. The potato originated and was first domesticated in the Andes Mountains of
4
“Minor fruit” means a fruit that is indigenous and underutilized.
9. Ryu 9
South America (International Potato Center 2010). When the potato was initially introduced to
various countries in Europe, the potato was perceived as strange and poisonous: in France, the
potato was accused of causing leprosy, syphilis, and other diseases (Stradley 2004). The
unattractive appearance and bland taste of the potato were major contributions to its poor
reception (Zuckerman 1998; Reader 2011). But, over time, the potato gained appreciation for its
nutritional value and abundance and was incorporated into a wide variety of recipes (Zuckerman
1998; Reader 2011). Today, the potato is the third most important food crop in the world, after
rice and wheat: over a billion people eat potato, and global potato production is over 300 million
metric tons per year (International Potato Center 2010).
Research and development of particular potato varieties and potato processing techniques
have been crucial to the potato’s success. While there are nearly 4000 different varieties of
potato, the potato has been bred into standard and well-known varieties with particular
agricultural or culinary advantages (Roach 2002; Potato Council Ltd. 2009). The mechanical
potato peeler and the wax paper bag, both invented in the 1920s, were vital to the successful
commercialization of potatoes. Before these technologies were introduced, potatoes were
tediously peeled and sliced by hand, and potato chips were dispensed from barrels or glass
display cases (Ament 2007). Herman Lay’s tactics as a traveling salesman then enabled Lay’s
potato chips to become the first successfully marketed national brand in the US. Today, potato
chip sales are over $6 billion annually in the US alone (Ament 2007). Similarly, potato
processing into French fries has been crucial to the potato’s popularity. In the US, fast food
chains, catering to consumers’ needs for reliable, affordable, and convenient food, popularized
fries by pairing them with burgers (Kiniry 2012). French fry sales surpassed regular potato sales
in the US in 1970 (Destination America 2012).
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Similarly, identification and widespread cultivation of the best crop varieties,
development and utilization of the crop-specific processing technologies, and introduction and
marketing of value-added products have been essential to the pineapple and the pomegranate’s
commercial success. The Hawaiian Pineapple Company, later known as the Dole Fruit
Company, widely popularized the pineapple and pineapple products across the US as the
country’s prime supplier of pineapple and pineapple products in the early 1900s (Beauman
2005). To successfully commercialize the pineapple, James Dole selected and propagated a
single hybrid variety of pineapple, the Cayenne; introduced and widely distributed the pineapple
in canned form; and marketed canned pineapple as “Hawaiian” to maintain the positive
association between the pineapple and the tropics (Beauman 2005; Okihiro 2009).
The company recognized as popularizing pomegranate in the US--POM Wonderful—
relied on similar tactics (Resnick and Wilkinson 2009). Led by marketing expert Lynda Resnick,
the company relied on a single variety of pomegranates, the Wonderful variety, known for its
sweet taste, ruby red color, and high nutritional value compared to other pomegranate varieties
(Resnick and Wilkinson 2009; “Pomegranate Wonderful Fruit” 2012). While POM Wonderful
massively expanded fresh pomegranate sales in the US, bringing sales from $0 to $165 million in
its first seven years of operation, POM Wonderful popularized pomegranates largely through
popularizing pomegranate juice, which is much simpler to consume than the pomegranate. In
order to commercialize the juice, Resnick invested in developing new processing technologies,
first to optimize juice extraction from arils and then to manufacture a unique container for
pomegranate juice: a bottle shaped like two pomegranates vertically stacked (Resnick and
Wilkinson 2009). Then, Resnick’s marketing of the pomegranate as an extremely nutritious
“superfruit” needed in daily doses was crucial to the company’s success at a time when US
11. Ryu 11
consumers were increasingly focusing on food products’ nutritional attributes. Resnick’s adept
use of print, radio, billboard, and film advertisements and social media were also important to the
company’s success in popularizing the pomegranate in the US (Resnick and Wilkinson 2009).
The cases of the potato, pineapple, and pomegranate show that extremely successful
commercialization of the jackfruit requires the research and identification of the top jackfruit
varieties, development of jackfruit-specific processing technologies, and strategic marketing of
jackfruit and its products. Establishment of a jackfruit research institute and jackfruit processing
centers in Karnataka will enable Karnataka to fulfill these requirements.
1. Establish a Jackfruit Research Institute
Currently, jackfruit suffers from a lack of research and development globally (APAARI
2012). Yet, there is worldwide concern about the increasing loss of diversity of plant genetic
resources, especially in underutilized crops (Williams and Haq 2002), and a recent study found
that genetic erosion is reducing the quality of Bangladesh’s jackfruit, before the diverse genetic
resources have even been leveraged for crop improvement (Khan et al. 2010). Jackfruit’s genetic
diversity is a valuable resource for the present and for the future, and there is no better place to
document and leverage it than in India: jackfruit originated in southern India’s Western Ghats, so
southern India has the greatest diversity of genetic resources for the jackfruit, in addition to
climates suitable for these varieties (APAARI 2012). India has the latent potential to become the
global leader in jackfruit research.
Research into the best jackfruit varieties will have enormous positive influence on
jackfruit commercialization. Because the jackfruit flowers are open-pollinated, there is especially
wide variation in seedlings (Elevitch and Manner 2006). From the tremendous variety of
jackfruit varieties in India, jackfruit varieties can be selected for optimal color, taste, texture, and
12. Ryu 12
tree height (for ease of harvesting). “Gumless” jackfruit varieties also exist, lacking the sticky
latex that makes jackfruit bulb extraction particularly cumbersome. No organizations have yet
undertaken systematic efforts to characterize or propagate these varieties, but there is enormous
potential in doing so, as gumless jackfruit is easier to eat and serve fresh and to process into
value-added products (CARD-Krishi Vigyan Kendra 2012). One farmer in Karnataka who took
an interest in gumless jackfruit successfully grafted a gumless tree through experimentation, and
the fruit was so desirable that he distributed over 100,000 gumless jackfruit seedlings across four
states in southern India over the next two decades (National Innovation Foundation-India 2011).
In addition, jackfruit trees can be grafted or systematically planted to yield fruit year-round, as
different varieties ripen during different months (Fernandes 2012). In a jackfruit research
institute, the ideal jackfruit varieties for commercialization can be systematically developed.
Then, the institute can disseminate grafts of these ideal varieties to farmers and agricultural
entrepreneurs to enable mass production of high-quality and standardized fruit.
The institute should also work to develop processing technologies optimized for the
jackfruit. To the knowledge of the author, the Jackfruit Promotion Council, and the president of
the Group Rural Agricultural Marketing Association (GRAMA), there are no jackfruit-specific
processing technologies in India. Companies in other countries focused on jackfruit processing
may have developed some jackfruit-specific processing technologies to enable mass production
(Shree Padre, personal communication, November 20, 2012), but in India, individuals and
groups engaged in jackfruit processing use the same technologies for dehydrating and pulping
jackfruit bulbs as they use for other tropical fruits (Joseph Luckose, President of GRAMA,
personal communication, November 20, 2012; Mohan Hodawdekar, jackfruit processor in
Maharashtra, personal communication, December 8, 2012). The extraction of bulbs from the
13. Ryu 13
jackfruit and the peeling of seeds during jackfruit seed flour production are extremely labor-
intensive processes (Joseph Luckose, personal communication, November 20, 2012):
mechanization of these processes would greatly facilitate commercialization of the jackfruit.
There is a strong precedent for the establishment of a jackfruit research institute: a
research institute has been established for jackfruit’s close relative, the breadfruit, in Hawaii
(California Rare Fruit Growers 1996). Founded in 2003, the Breadfruit Institute is based at the
National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Hawaii (National Tropical Botanical Garden
2012). The Institute manages the world’s largest and most extensive breadfruit collection,
including over 120 varieties from the Pacific region, the Seychelles, Indonesia, and the
Philippines. The Institute’s mission is to promote the conservation and use of the breadfruit for
both food and reforestation, and the Institute, though a not-for-profit organization, is working to
popularize the fruit locally as a sustainable and nutritious resource (National Tropical Botanical
Garden 2012b; Diane Ragone, personal communication, October 22, 2012). The head of the
Institute, Diane Ragone, notes that breadfruit processing is yet in its infancy and is working to
secure funding to do additional work in processing: in the meantime, she is using seminars,
recipe books, and workshops with chefs, breadfruit growers, and consumers to increase
awareness and facilitate production of the many value-added products possible from the
breadfruit (Diane Ragone, personal communication, October 22, 2012).
Thus, the precedent exists for the establishment of a jackfruit research institute that
encompasses all aspects relevant to the fruit’s popularization, from the identification and
development of ideal fruit varieties, through processing strategies, to product marketing to
consumers. Just as the Breadfruit Institute is based at the NTBG, a not-for-profit institution
dedicated to learning about the world’s tropical plants and spreading this knowledge (National
14. Ryu 14
Tropical Botanical Garden 2012a), India’s Jackfruit Institute could be based at an agricultural
university.
The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, presents an ideal location for
India’ Jackfruit Institute. Established in 1964, the University’s Main Research Station is centered
on a 202-acre farm (University of Agricultural Sciences 2012). The University has a record of
dedication to jackfruit research and promotion. Researchers at UAS have identified a few
excellent varieties of jackfruit, studied genetic variation in jackfruit, and worked to develop
jackfruit processing strategies for commercialization (APAARI 2012; CARD-Krishi Vigyan
Kendra 2012; “Stress on Jackfruit Processing” 2012; Shyamalamma et al. 2008). UAS sponsors
jackfruit seminars and processing training programs during the jackfruit season, and scientists
attend jackfruit festivals to meet innovative farmers and to share knowledge (S. Shyamalamma,
personal communication, June 15, 2012; S. Shyamalamma, personal communication, December
5, 2012). In addition, UAS’s Vice-Chancellor is a prime advocate for jackfruit. In 2007, Vice-
Chancellor Narayana Gowda helped form the Toobugere Jackfruit Growers’ Association (TBJA)
of small and marginal jackfruit farmers in Doddaballapur district of Karnataka. As a result of this
group’s formation, jackfruit farmers’ incomes have tripled (Padre 2009).
Furthermore, based in Bangalore, India’s third largest city (Census India 2011), the
Jackfruit Research Institute could gain international repute and rally national and international
resources to support jackfruit. A general manager at Sathguru Management Consultants, based in
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, has conveyed to the author his organization’s marked interest in
working to increase jackfruit utilization (Suresh Damodaran, personal communication,
November 6, 2012). Food science faculty members at Cornell University and UC Davis, two of
the US’s best universities for food science, have communicated their interest in studying
15. Ryu 15
jackfruit species and processing in India (Suresh Damodaran, personal communication,
November 6, 2012; Diane Barrett, personal communication, November 16, 2012). Dr. Nyree
Zerega, Director of the Graduate Program in Plant Biology and Conservation at the Chicago
Botanic Garden, has conducted research on jackfruit and breadfruit in the past and is increasingly
interested in focusing her research on jackfruit species and processing (Nyree Zerega, personal
communication, December 6, 2012; Khan et al. 2010; Zerega et al. 2003; Zerega, Ragone, and
Motley 2005).
Finally, in the context of increasingly frequent jackfruit festivals across southern India,
the Jackfruit Institute will be recognized as a landmark initiative effectively leveraging an
amazing opportunity for broad contributions to society. The farmers, processors, researchers, and
fanatics who have been in attendance at over three dozen jackfruit festivals held in southern
India (Vinayak 2012) will deeply appreciate the Institute and make good use of its resources,
actively contributing to creating a bright future for India’s jackfruit.
2. Establish Jackfruit Processing Centers
In order to ensure the brilliant success of Karnataka’s jackfruit industry, Karnataka needs
to invest in the development of jackfruit processing centers: at these regional resource centers,
jackfruit farmers and entrepreneurs will be equipped with the knowledge and techniques that
emerge from the Jackfruit Research Institute. The jackfruit processing centers will also serve as
the meeting point for seminars for jackfruit species and product awareness and training programs
for processing and marketing. These centers will then spearhead the allocation of subsidies and
grants for jackfruit processing enterprises.
The precedents for these processing centers are established in Sri Lanka and even in
Maharashtra and Kerala. In Sri Lanka, the Horticulture Crop Research and Development Institute
16. Ryu 16
(HORDI) run by the Ministry of Agriculture has provided jackfruit processing training to street
vendors, housewives, and entrepreneurs (Padre 2012). The Ministry secured funding from the
International Centre for Underutilized Crops (ICUC) to provide these trainings free of cost.
Fourteen institutions have joined HORDI in organizing workshops and conducting training
programs. One of these institutions, the Rural Enterprises Network (REN), has spearheaded
unripe jackfruit dehydration and bottling of jackfruit products. The non-profit organization has
large-scale and small-scale electric driers and other processing equipment on site for training
programs and assists micro and small-scale rural enterprises with other business development
services. Agricultural journalist and jackfruit expert Shree Padre reports, “As a result, Sri Lanka
has become the world leader in making jackfruit the key to food security and raising the incomes
of the poor” (Padre 2012).
Jackfruit processing is advancing rapidly in Maharashtra and Kerala as well. An
entrepreneur in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, developed a cost-effective semi-automatic machine to
produce pulp from a locally abundant jackfruit variety, and this innovation led to the creation of
Sfurti, a consortium dedicated to the pulp’s commercial production (Express News Service
2012). Today, the consortium produces jackfruit chocolates and modaks in enormous quantities
as well. One of the local farmers who worked with the consortium has since exported jackfruit
pulp to the UK and to the US. The organization continues to innovate and expand, with support
the Maharashtra Government’s Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). In
September 2012, plans were revealed for a collaboration among Sfurti, the Kerala State
Horticultural Mission, and the Jackfruit Promotion Council to “create a jackfruit revolution”
(Express News Service 2012).
17. Ryu 17
In Kerala, the Kerala Small Farmer’s Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) spearheaded a
training program on the manufacturer of jackfruit products in 2004 in collaboration with the
Department of Home Science at Kerala Agricultural University, Vellayani (Kerala Small
Farmer’s Agribusiness Consortium n.d.). Today, Kerala SFAC is giving subsidies for jackfruit
processing (Shree Padre, personal communication, December 3, 2012). Meanwhile, CARD-
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Pathanamthitta has been organizing jackfruit processing training
programs in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) for multiple years (CARD-Krishi Vigyan Kendra 2012; Shree Padre, personal
communication, December 3, 2012).
Most notable is that in November 2012, the Kerala State Agriculture Department initiated
a project to develop branded commercial jackfruit products abundantly across the state (TNN
2012). The state government has given administrative sanction for the establishment of a primary
processing hub for jackfruit in Pathanamthitta District. This follows the Kerala government’s
sanction of Rs. 5,255,000 (105,100 USD) for comprehensive study of jackfruit varieties,
availability, processing, and products. Plans state that the processing center will be established in
association with CARD-Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
and that CARD-Krishi Vigyan Kendra will help select the 50 entrepreneurs with the highest
potential for jackfruit processing and product development training programs. In the future, the
processing center will provide technological assistance and guidance to aspiring jackfruit
entrepreneurs (TNN 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, the need and the precedents for Karnataka’s Jackfruit Institute and Jackfruit
Processing Centers are evident. Utilization of jackfruit, an naturally abundant and nutritious
18. Ryu 18
resource, will enormously strengthen food security and economic security in Karnataka and will
pave the way for the commercialization of many other underutilized crops. The cases of the
potato, pineapple, and pomegranate show that extremely successful commercialization of the
jackfruit requires the research and identification of the top jackfruit varieties, development of
jackfruit-specific processing technologies, and strategic marketing of jackfruit and its products.
Establishment of a jackfruit research institute and jackfruit processing centers in Karnataka will
enable Karnataka to fulfill these requirements. Hawaii’s Breadfruit Institute, Sri Lanka’s HORTI
and REN, and Maharashtra and Kerala state governments’ jackfruit promotion efforts provide
meaningful precedents for the establishment of the Institute and Processing Centers. Now is the
time for Karnataka, India’s leading jackfruit producer, to take the lead in jackfruit research and
commercialization and to usher in a bright future for jackfruit and for Karnataka.
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All of the photos above have been contributed by Shree Padre of Adike Padrike and Chef Jose
Varkey of Casino Hotel, CGH Earth Experience.
For more photos of jackfruit products and entrepreneurs, please visit the CARD-KVK blog at
http://panasamwonders.blogspot.com/ and the Jackfruit Promotion Council blog at
http://jackfruitpromotioncouncil.wordpress.com/
The photos below show Annie Ryu, the author of this proposal, at a press conference in
Mangalore, a jackfruit festival, a jackfruit processing training program, and a specialty food
stores in the US marketing Global Village Fruits dried jackfruit.
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Biography of the Author, Annie Ryu
Annie Ryu is a prolific social entrepreneur studying Social Anthropology, Global Health
and Health Policy at Harvard University. She tasted jackfruit for the first time while in India in
June 2011. Subsequent meetings with jackfruit researchers, farmers, and processing groups led
her to found Global Village Fruits, Inc., a social enterprise working to build jackfruit product
supply chains in India and to introduce jackfruit products to the US market. Before founding
Global Village Fruits, Annie served as the Nicaragua field investigator for a multi-country study
on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the Associate Director for the
nonprofit Children of the Border. In 2010, she co-founded Remindavax, Inc., a text-message
reminder program serving over 4,000 mother-child pairs and their community health workers in
rural southern India. She is a Global Good Fund Fellow, one of Glamour’s 2012 Top Ten
College Women, and a former (’10-’11) honorary Fellow at the Legatum Center for
Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT.
