People to miss Panruti flavour

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Jackfruit lovers would miss the tasty “Panruti” jackfruit this season and at least for the next five seasons.

The season for Panruti jackfruit begins in December and lasts till June, but not a single fruit arrived at the Koyambedu wholesale market this season as the trees were uprooted in the thane cyclonic storm in December last.

The long and thick carpels and extra sweetness make Panruti jackfruit so special. The fruits have outstanding taste, thanks to the local soil and climatic conditions. “Even jackfruits from nearby Cuddalore and Chidambaram are no match for Panruti jackfruits,” Mr R. Sridhar, a native of Panruti says.

Mr Veeraraghava Rao, Additional collector, Thane rehabilitation said jackfruit trees were cultivated in about 1,000 hectares in Cuddalore district and the cyclone had uprooted trees in about 700 hectares. Consequently, the jackfruit cultivation has come down from 20,000 MT, a season to just 4,000 MT, he said.

This would hardly enough to meet the demand of the local market, traders said.

“We have given the farmers high yielding species and it will take a minimum of five years for the trees to give yield,” Mr Rao said. Besides Tamil Nadu, Panruti jackfruits had huge market in Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra.

Jackfruits from Pudukottai and Kerala started arriving at the Koyambedu market, but there are not much takers as these fruits could not match the taste of Panruti pala. “We are getting one load (about 1,000 fruits) a day from Kerala, but the sales have not picked up,” R Sankar, a wholesale fruit merchant in Koyambedu said.

There were exclusive customers for Panruti Pala and retailers were not showing interest in fruits from Kerala and Pudukottai, he says. “We used to get one truck load of Panruti Pala on daily basis throughout the season and we miss the fruits badly,” he laments.