Khunti, 25 April (Hindustan Times). The land of Lord Birsa Munda has been very fertile from the point of view of peg agriculture. Not only has Khunti made its mark in the cultivation of mango, cucumber and watermelon in recent times, Khunti district is also on top in the production of jackfruit. The jackfruit of Khunti district is relished not only in Jharkhand but also in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Nepal. Traders from other places reach here in the weekly haats held on different days and buy jackfruit at wholesale rates. Some traders go to the village and buy all the jackfruits on the tree and sell them in the mandis of other states.
Jackfruit production is still a major source of income for the people here. Jackfruit trees are found in all areas of the district. People plant jackfruit trees in their homes. Along with this, jackfruit trees growing naturally in the forests along the roads are a better source of food and income for the people here. People living in forests and rural areas diligently plant jackfruit trees and strengthen their economic condition by selling it to traders. Every year farmers earn thousands of rupees as additional income by selling jackfruit. For many farmers, kharif farming is based on jackfruit. Farmers buy fertilizers, seeds etc. for Kharif farming with the amount earned by selling jackfruit during summer. Although there is definitely a decrease in the number of jackfruit trees, but farmers still plant jackfruit trees. At present there is a lot of demand for jackfruit in the market as a new vegetable. Farmers sell jackfruit of small size in the market during this period at a higher price. Jackfruit reaches its full size in the months of April and May. At this time, the weight of a jackfruit laden on trees ranges from five to 10 kg. Some jackfruits are up to 15-20 kg. It is sold by farmers in weekly haats and daily markets. Jackfruit is mostly used as a vegetable.
Jackfruit producer Bilkan Topno of Diankel village of Torpa block says that jackfruit is the morsel of the poor. Even today, in remote mountainous and forested areas, the poor live by eating jackfruit.
Housewife Anita Dhan, who lives in the same village, says that jackfruit is called the cheese of the poor. Apart from vegetable, jackfruit has many other uses. Some housewives make jackfruit pickle and store it at home. Apart from this, people also eat ripe jackfruit with great enthusiasm.
Contractors buy trees for one season
Middlemen are taking full advantage of jackfruit. For the past few years, jackfruit has been encroached upon by middlemen. As soon as the jackfruit trees bear fruit, the middlemen go from village to village and buy only the jackfruit tree along with the tree for a season from the farmers. Avoiding the hassle of going to the market for sale and the system of sale being available in the village itself, farmers also easily sell jackfruit to middlemen. The value of jackfruit trees is determined by looking at the crops grown on it. Farmers are given only one to two thousand rupees as the cost of one jackfruit tree bought by the middlemen businessmen for one season. When the crops on the trees come into their full shape, the middlemen pluck the crops from the trees and consume them in the local and outside mandis. By selling jackfruit bought from farmers for just one to two thousand rupees in outside mandis, the middlemen earn up to 50 to 60 thousand rupees from the crop of one tree. This series has been going on for the past many years. Jackfruit is a bumper product in almost all areas of the district.
Experts say that the business of jackfruit in Khunti district is worth two to three crores. Jackfruit is produced in large quantities in rural areas like Torpa, Karra, Rania, Murhu, Adki etc. Rania’s farmer Nikhil Kandulna says that the government should encourage the production of jackfruit and arrange a market for the farmers.
