INDIA JACKFRUIT

Jackfruit Curry has always been very popular in Sri Lanka. But now it is more popular than it ever was as a result of minimal processing "revolution that swept the island.
"In the past, most houses do jackfruit curry only during weekends. Thanks to the processing of the minimum now, we make it two or three times a week," said Dr.. Subha Heenkenda, a senior official in the department of agriculture in Sri Lanka.
Minimal processing makes jackfruit ready to cook. The result is that consumption has shot up to five tonnes of tender jackfruit and 10 tons of immature diversity in a day.
Sri Lanka now has more than 200 minimum processing units that are ready to cook Polos (Tender jackfruit) and Kos (mature jackfruit).
Polos Curry, of course, is like a signature recipe from Sri Lanka. It is available in most of the hotels and restaurants. In canned form, it is exported to various countries.

Many people in India still do not know that jackfruit is a versatile vegetable. If a vegetable garden, it has four stages - soft, slightly grown immature and mature adult. Sri Lanka has a tradition of using it not just as a vegetable, but as staple food, in place of rice. The Sinhalese name for the jackfruit tree - Baat Gaza - which means "tree of rice".
Sri Lanka is the first in the world consuming jackfruit as a vegetable. Dr Heenkenda, the country consumed about 25 to 30 percent of its tender jackfruits as vegetables. This is a very positive step in the direction of the local food security. Probably no other country in the world are in accordance with this.
Minimal processing includes preparatory work such as light was trimming, peeling, cutting or chopping. The jackfruit is more user friendly, but remains close to its natural shape.
The biggest problem with the jackfruit, it is large and difficult to digest in its entirety. It is also difficult to cut and separate the edible part.
Ready-to-cook jackfruit always used to sell on the road in Sri Lanka. But eight years ago, the Agriculture Department has an opportunity in getting ready to cook variety available on a large scale through an organized seen minimal processing.
Remember senior officer Senarath Ekanayake, "We have fresh cut vegetables to popular in the U.S. market. So we thought, why can not we jackfruit also available in ready form."
The food research unit launched a series of training programs. But at the beginning did not make much impact. This radio and articles in newspapers and magazines used to popularize the idea. "We have on-site demonstrations at exhibitions," remembers Ekanayake.
But like any new technology, it is required to catch hold of a few people interested and the hand holding them for a long time. It did not take long for Sri Lanka employment and income generation potential of this simple procedure to realize. Since the success of the pioneers in many other.
Today, points out Dr. Sarananda Hewage, the head of the food Research Unit: "Kandy has 13 units minimum processing do with jackfruit. There are 30 in Colombo."
In Colombo and Kandy leads the way, a minimum processing spread to other towns and urban centers. It is possible to gain more from jackfruit.
On the roads, a 250 gm pack of the tender jackfruit package priced around 30 to 40 Sri Lankan Rupees. In supermarkets and shops, the price is slightly higher.
Small home businesses abound, which is good, but a problem if the standards of hygiene is not maintained
The investment is very small. "They need a few buckets, two good stainless steel blades and a small sealing machine," Show Ekanayake. Most of them are family units by industry.
Interestingly, half of these entrepreneurs are farmers themselves. Previously they were not mentionworthy returns to jackfruit. Now, with minimal processing, they are in a day what they did during a season.
Lesson for India: "A machine can be used for cutting jackfruit the task easier," said dr. Christin P. Robert, program coordinator of CARD Krishi Kendra Vijnan Pathnamthitta, Kerala. "The Sri Lankan model of minimal processing has tremendous scope for us in India. Take the case of a producer is like our Kerala. Although we do not have jack fruit production, we have a considerable number of towns, cities and office-going women. People like jackfruit, but not always time to cut and cook it. "
From Kerala, a large amount of the tender jackfruit sent to the northern Indian states. Jack In season, every day, trucks carrying about 400 tons of the tender is Jack of North Kerala India. In states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, is cutting vegetables in shops for R30 a kilo.
Sri Lanka's success has a great lesson for India. So far our efforts jackfruit to provide - as well as a vegetable and a fruit table - in a consumer-friendly form an egg. Agricultural universities and research stations would do well to minimal processing of a priority.