Dragon Fruit: What things should be kept in mind while growing dragon fruit to make it profitable? Know from Dr. Suneela Kumari

Dragon fruit is a foreign fruit, but in the last few years, dragonfruit farming has become popular in India too, and farmers are earning well from it. But if its cultivation is not done properly, it can cause harm. Know what are the factors on which the farmer needs to pay attention.

Dragon fruit farming is now becoming the favorite crop of farmers of India along with countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Israel, Sri Lanka. The biggest reason for this is its high price. Also, it can be grown in all types of soil and climate.

The most important thing is that dragon fruit bears fruit throughout the year, but what things farmers need to keep in mind for good production and profit, Dr. Suneela Kumari, founder of Dragon Flora Farm LLP, talked in detail with Kisan of India correspondent Sarvesh Bundeli.

Why did you choose business in dragon fruit farming?

Dr. Suneela’s company Dragon Flora Farm LLP helps dragon fruit farmers from providing plants to marketing. Regarding this company, Suneela says that she started it in 2019. Earlier in 2012, she joined Krishi Vigyan Kendra as a subject matter specialist. Where she came to know about many problems of farmers. She came to know about two problems of farmers. First, the land is divided and secondly farmers have less money for investment.

She told that it also takes a lot of time to get returns from the crop that the farmer plants. All these problems can be solved by dragon fruit farming. Thinking about this, the company was started in 2019 to help farmers and give them the right information.

Income from dragon fruit starts in one year

Dr. Suneela further explains that if the farmer plants a good quality plant, then income starts in one year. The farmer becomes stable in 3 years. Dragon fruit starts from May June and lasts till December, that is, its fruit does not ripen together like mango, guava. Not only this, its specialty is that if there is any problem in a month due to bad weather, then only the crop of that month will be damaged and production starts again from the next month.

Nurseries are made in a scientific way (Dragon Fruit Nursery)

Dr. Suneela tells that her company prepares nurseries in a scientific way. Good quality plants are given to the farmers with guarantee. Her company stays with the farmers until the fruits start coming.

Dragon Fruit Marketing

Along with providing plant material, she also teaches marketing skills to the farmers. She buys their products and teaches farmers to create social media pages so that they can become entrepreneurs.

Sunila says that her company is also teaching how to make jam and juice from dragon fruit. Farmers who have higher production are given training in processing.

Motivating people for organic

Sunila tells about her journey of leaving the government job and starting her own company that she already had the idea of ​​starting her own work, so she took a calculated risk. First she gathered all the information about it, did PhD in Horticulture as well as MBA in International Business and took the risk only after getting all the information from the good mentors she got. She says that it is important to take such a risk, because only then you get benefit in the future.

Suneela says that she likes to visit farms, talk to farmers, and empower people. Hers is a social enterprise. She is also interested in community development. She says that most of her company’s farms are organic farms and she also motivates people to go organic. 

When should a dragon fruit plant be planted?

On how long does a dragon fruit plant take to bear fruit, Suneela says that it depends on the variety and maturity of the plant. As far as planting is concerned, it can be planted throughout the year. Suneeta says that if very young plants are planted, flowers start blooming after 18 months. Whereas in mature plants, flowering starts in 8-9 months. Suneela says that her company gives information to farmers on how to cultivate so that the plants start bearing fruits within a year.

Lack of research on dragon fruit

Dr. Suneela says that not much research has been done on dragon fruit. Therefore, its variety is not verified. In India, the fruit is sold by saying that it will have red and white flesh and yellow skin on top. Her company has Royal Red, Vietnamese Giant White, Vietnamese Red, Moroccan Red varieties.

Like mango and grapes, this fruit has a certified variety but research work is still going on in this direction. She advises farmers to always buy plants from a trustworthy person, otherwise many times farmers also complain about not getting fruits and flowers.

Cost in dragon fruit cultivation

Sunila tells that the first expense in its cultivation is the plant. Plants are available in the market for 40 to 70-80 rupees, which depends on the size of the cutting. Its specialty is that it can be grown from Assam to Himachal and Kanyakumari.

It is like a vine, so it needs support. Whatever material is available for support can be used. Cement concrete poles are usually used for this, but you can use bamboo, timber, PVC pipe, whatever you get. Mostly cement concrete poles are used which cost 300 to 700 rupees. On the other hand, fertilizers worth 50 to 70 thousand rupees are used in one acre.

If a farmer cultivates 2 thousand plants in one acre, then the cost comes to 4 to 5 lakh rupees. If farming is done in the right way, then in 2 years so much production is done that the input cost is covered.

How can one start dragon fruit farming?

Sunila says that her company works in Pan India. She has provided material in more than 13 states to farmers who want to do commercial farming, she connects with them, but she supports digitally those who do farming on a small scale.

For contract farming with the company, the farmer has to take at least 10 thousand plants. There is a loss in planting it on a small scale, because in such a situation it becomes difficult to sell it. If anyone wants, they can try planting it on a small scale for experiment and later produce it commercially.

They help farmers in every way

Sunila says that even among those farmers with whom she is not working, many of them call and tell that even after two-two and a half years, fruits are not coming. This means that they have not been given the right plant, or they have not been told what to put in it. Her company also helps such farmers.

She says that dragon fruit farming is always said to be profitable, but no one tells which type of fruit will give good yield and what things you have to take care of so that the fruits come on time. It is sold in the market for 400-500 rupees per kg, but it is a fruit of good variety.

Along with selling fruits, farmers can also take training in processing, so that in case of high yield, they can make juice, jam and sell it. The advantage of this will also be that if the size of the fruit is small, then after making jam, juice, the size will not matter and the price will be good.

Research on Dragon Fruit with scientists

Dr. Suneela’s company is cultivating Dragon Fruit by doing research with scientists and is also helping farmers from training to selling the product. She is talking to scientists across the country and collecting important information related to the cultivation of Dragon Fruit, so that farmers can be made more aware about its cultivation in a better way.