The exotic dragon fruit now grows in Dindigul

Successful dragon fruit cultivation in Dindigul district brings profit and sustainability, inspiring others to follow suit.

For the first time in Dindigul district, on the foothills of Sirumalai, a farmer from Velankannipuram has tasted sweet success by growing the vitamin-packed dragon fruits. His one-acre farmland is filled with rows and rows of hylocereus, a type of climbing cactus that bears the dark pink-hued dragon fruit.

A. Susaimanickam switched over to cultivating dragon fruit about two years ago. For about 15 years, he had been growing grapes, which is ubiquitous to the region. But of late, he found that whatever little profit he made was being pumped back into the farm. There was a regular need for hiring workers to maintain the vineyard and the salary for the farmhands was eroding his profit. He also had to get fertilizers and pesticides, and any vagaries in the climate only lead to destruction of the produce.

A YouTube video on cultivation of dragon fruit caught his eye, and he along with his family members decided to give it a shot. Though the fruit is a native of South America, many in India were growing it in their kitchen garden. Willing to take a risk, the farmer’s son Suresh went to Tiruttani and got about 4,000 saplings.

Again, YouTube videos helped them in setting up trellis type of planting and the ring type. In the first year in about 30 cents and they planted the saplings. About a year later, they managed to make a profit of about ₹80,000.

There was no looking back after that. Susaimanickam’s daughter-in-law, says, “We realised that it is only for initial work such as erecting fencing stones that is used as a trainer to help the plant grow and other works like digging of pits that we would need labour. Other than that we would need just a few workers to help about twice or thrice a year when we add animal manure to the soil. Otherwise as a family we are able to maintain the farm without any additional expenses.”

The initial expense for the one-acre plot came to about ₹6 lakh. But within two years, about 2,000 saplings have reached the fruit-yielding stage with each plant producing about 20 kg of dragon fruit.

“Many people have started coming to the farm to buy the fruit and we sell it for ₹160 per kg. We also go to markets in Dindigul and Madurai where we sell it for ₹200 per kg,” Sukanya adds.