Course: B.Sc. Agriculture

Subject: Principles of Horticulture

Unit :4

Cultivation practices of Jackfruit

JackfruitArtocarpus hetrophyllus

MoraceaeIndia,( Western Ghats)

JackfruitArtocarpus hetrophyllus

MoraceaeIndia,( Western Ghats)

The tree is handsome and stately, 30 to 70 ft (9-21 m) tall, with evergreen, alternate, glossy, somewhat leathery leaves to 9 in (22.5 cm) long, oval on mature wood, sometimes oblong or deeply lobed on young shoots. All parts contain a sticky, white latex.

Jackfruit, bearing world’s largest fruit is also known as poor man’s food. It is hardly recognized as a commercial fruit crop even though it is wildly grown in southern and eastern parts of India. In African countries like Uganda, the fruit is regarded as staple food.

In India, major states growing jackfruit are Assam, South Indian states viz. Kerala, Tamil Nadu where Kerala has the largest area (93000 ha) and production (21 lakh tons).

IntroductionIntroduction

Jackfruit is also known as poor man’s food.

Chromosome no. is 2n=56

An extract of jackfruit called Jacaline.

Inflorescence of jackfruit is Catkin.

Fruit of jackfruit is Sorosis.

Composition & uses :-

Jackfruit is comparatively as cheap fruit. It is fairly good source of vitamins and minerals. Immature fruit used as vegetable. The jackfruit is also used for the preparation of jam, nectar, preserves, squash, fruit bar and candy. From the mature but unripe fruits, products like chips and papads can be prepared.

Medicinal uses:- Tree has certain medicinal properties also. it is used for the cancer treatment and skin diseases. The ash of jackfruit leaves, burned with corn and coconut shells, is used alone or mixed with coconut oil to heal ulcers.

Climate:-The jackfruit is adapted only to humid tropical and near-tropical climates. It is sensitive to frost in its early life and cannot tolerate drought. If rainfall is deficient, the tree must be irrigated. In India, it thrives in the Himalayan foothills and from sea-level to an altitude of 5,000 ft (1,500 m) in the south. It is stated that jackfruits grown above 4,000 ft (1,200 m) are of poor quality and usable only for cooking.

Soil:- The fruit can be grown in wide variety of soils. But it performs well in deep, rich, alluvial soil with enough drainage facilities. Tree is grown in laterite or open textured soils also, but sufficient nutrients should be provided.

Propagation:- Propagation is usually by seeds which can be kept no longer than a month before planting because , seeds lose viability within short period.

Seeds can either be sown in situ or in polythene bags and after germination transplanted to the main field.

soaking seeds in NAA (25ppm) for 24 hrs enhances percentage of germination and seedling growth.

Vegetative propagation:-Budding method like patch, chip and forkert are successful in Jackfruit.

Air layering is the best method under West Bengal conditions which gave 100% rooting with IBA treatment.

Varieties:- In South India, jackfruits are classified as of two general types: 1)Koozha chakka, the fruits of which have small, fibrous, soft, mushy, but very sweet carpels .2)Koozha pazham, more important commercially, with crisp carpers of high quality known as Varika. These types are apparently known in different areas by other names such as Barka, or Berka (soft, sweet and broken open with the hands), and Kapa or Kapiya (crisp and cut open with a knife)

The Jackfruit TNJ-1,TNJ-2,TNJ-3 and TNJ-4 collections from Faizabad fruit with excellent quality, low fiber content and the suitable for the table purpose.

NJC-, NJC-2, NJC-3 have small to medium sized varities suitable for culinary purpose. Burliar-1, Palur-1 (PLR-1) and Peechiparai-1 (PPI-1) were released from the TNAU Coimbatore.

PLR-1 is an off season high yeilding variety.

Exotic varities of Jackfruit are Golden Nugget, Black Gold, Lemmon Gold (Australia),Hazari, Chala, Khaja (Bangladesh) & NS-1, J- 30, j-31(Malaysia)

The 'Singapore', or 'Ceylon', jack, a remarkably early bearer producing fruit in 18 months to 2 1/2 years from transplanting, was introduced into India from Ceylon and planted extensively in 1949. The fruit is of medium size with small, fibrous carpers which are very sweet.

Exotic Varieties of Jackfruit:-

Cultivation:-

Planting:-System of planting adopted is square method while hexagonal system can be followed in less fertile soil.

Planting either with seedlings or vegetative propagules is done during onset of monsoon period soon after planting, staking has to be done.

In situ planting of 3-4 seeds / pit gave strong plant.

Soaking one-month-old seedlings in a gibberellic acid solution (25- 200 ppm) enhances shoot growth.

Gibberellic acid spray and paste increase root growth

Manures and Fertilizers :-For better growth and yield of tree, manures and fertilizers are to be applied.

The recommended dose of jackfruit 600 : 300 : 240 gm of NPK/Plant/year.

Training and Pruning :-

No regular training and pruning is given to trees. But it is desirable to maintain a single stem upto a certain height.

In aged trees light to medium pruning can be given to remove over crowded branches without affecting yield.(Muthulakshmi,2003)

Irrigation :-Tree does not need regular irrigation. Young trees can be watered during summer. Frequency of irrigation depends upon soil and climatic factors

Intercropping :-Jackfruit intercropped with vegetable crops like

chillies, bhindi, brinjal, and pulses till trees reach bearing stage.

Flowering :-

Trees start bearing from 6-8 years after planting.

According to locality and plant type, Flowering seasons starts from November and extends upto march.

Very rarely , off-season flowering during September is noticed.

Female spikes are borne on footstalks from main branches while, male spikes appear both on central and peripheral region.

Sex of spike can be easily identify.

Female spike are large and surface gritty while, male ones are small with smooth surface.

A single male flower consists of stamen covered by perianth.

Fruit development :- Pollination and fertilization of spike are completed within 3-6 days after pollination. fleshy perianth is the edible portion, which develops the flake. Fruit consists of four parts,viz .,i) bulb (37-40%) ii) perigons (18-20%) iii) rind (20-22%) iv) seeds (20-23%). After fruit set it takes about 120-140 days to reach maturity. Flattening of spines on the rind and thickening of latex are the maturity of indices.

Season:-In Asia, jackfruits ripen principally from March to June, April to September, or June to August, depending on the climatic region, with some off-season crops from September to December, or a few fruits at other times of the year. In the West Indies, fruits ripens in June; in Florida, the season is late summer and fall.

Harvesting:-

Harvesting season starts from February and extends to JuneFruits mature 3 to 8 months from floweringFruits are harvested along with their footstalks.Yield vary from a few fruits during first year of bearing and it may be as high as 250 fruits after 15 years of age.Individual fruit weight varies from 3-15kg.On an average about 50-80 tonns of fruits per hectare.

StorageJack fruit is climatic in it’s nature of ripening. Usually ripening takes place within 3 to 5 days after harvest. These fruit is not normally stored in low temp. but ripe flakes (bulbs) can be stored at low temp for 2 – 3 weeks by dipping then in sugar syrup containing potassium metabisulphate and packing in 100 gauge polypropylene cover without affecting the quality.

Post Harvest Management

CROP PROTECTION:- pest:-

Shoot borer (Diaphania caesalis) :- It is reported from Karnataka. Maharashtra and Assam. The caterpillars bore into shoot, flower bud or fruit causing wilting of shoot, drying of flower buds and rotting of fruits. The pest can be controlled by spraying phosphamidon (0.03%).

Bark borers:- These are mostly polyphagus pest and in case of jackfruit, Inderbela tetranonis and batocera spp. Are important. To control borers, clean affected portion of bark on main stem and insert a wick of cotton wool soaked in kerosene oil or carbon bisulphate into holes and seal holes with mud.

•Bud weevil (Ochyromera artocarpi):- It is found all over India. Buds and fruits fall prematurely by attack of of this weevil . This can be controlled by spraying carbaryl (0.2%) and also by destroying fallen fruits and buds. Other pests affecting jackfruit are leaf webbers (Perinna nuda), scale insect (Simalaspidus artocarpi), aphids (Greenidia artocarpi), mealy bugs, white flies and red ants.

Disease:-Fruit rot/soft rot (Rhizopus artocarpi):- It is a serious disease and affected fruits fall off early. This can be controlled by application of captan (0.2%) or Bordeaux mixture (1%).

Dieback (Botryodiplodia theobromae):- Twings or branches shrivel, die and fall off. There may be gum exudation from affected branches. Management of dieback includes pruning of affected twings followed by spraying carbendazim (0.1%) or chlorothalonil (0.2%). The minor disease are leaf spot (Phyllosticta artocarpina), rust(Uredo artocarpi), Pink disease (Botryobasidium salmonicolor ) and seed rot.

Web Refernces:

1.www.agri info.in2.rfcarchives.org.au/Next/Fruits/Jakfruit/JackfruitCultiv2-84.htm3. www.cropsreview.com/growing-jackfruit.htm4. www.primaryinfo.com/projects/jackfruit-tree-plantation.htm