In a major push for horticultural farmers wishing to expand into dragon fruit (or kamalam as it is known in Gujarat) production, the Gujarat government unveiled a financial support program on Friday with a total funding of up to Rs 10 crore.
Farmers from the general community will be eligible for financial assistance of up to Rs 3 lakh per hectare under the scheme, while farmers from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes will be eligible for financial assistance of up to Rs 4.5 lakh per hectare.
Dragon fruit, also known as pitahaya or strawberry pear in different parts of the world, is high in nutritional value and sells for Rs 100-150 per piece in retail markets in Gujarat cities. Horticulture farmers in the Kutch district had turned to dragon fruit cultivation and had made several success stories. P M Vaghasiya, Director of Horticulture for the Government of Gujarat, stated that the fruit, which was renamed Kamalam in 2021, was grown in the Kutch and Surendranagar districts of the state.
"The scheme is introduced to encourage more farmers to venture into Kamalam fruit cultivation; we anticipate that this scheme will help increase the area under Kamalam fruit cultivation from about 300 hectares at present," as per Vaghasiya.
In addition, the state government has offered financial assistance for overall horticulture development. Farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations or companies, and registered trusts would receive financial assistance of up to Rs 50 lakh for on-field improvements such as farm mechanization, horticulture infrastructure, irrigation, plastic covering, and so on. This totals Rs 6.5 crore in provisioning.
"We hope that by incentivizing the cultivation of kamalam-dragon fruit, we can reduce the fruit's reliance on imports. Farmers will benefit from the initial financial assistance by tapping into export opportunities "Raghavji Patel, Gujarat's agriculture minister, stated He also stated that qualified farmers will receive assistance directly in their bank accounts via the DBT.
The Gujarat government renamed dragon fruit 'Kamalam' (after the Sanskrit word for lotus) in January 2021 because the fruit allegedly resembled a lotus. The decision came after Kutch farmers suggested to the state government that the dragon fruit be renamed Kamalam.
Farmers involved in dragon fruit production have seen remarkable financial transformations. As a result, the State government decided to follow Prime Minister Modi's call to double farmers' income by incentivizing dragon fruit cultivation in the state. Dragon fruit is grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in addition to Gujarat.
