Stories

Mon, 25 May 2026

Mon, 25 May 2026 The rise of the fruit that tastes like custard

Custard apple plants are prized for their hardiness but exporting their delicate fruit is difficult.

* In Kolar, a drought-prone district in southern India, Ashoka Shivareddy revived his family's farm using a scientific approach and planted custard apple trees that can survive with very little water.
* The traditional variety of custard apples has a short shelf life and many seeds, making it less attractive to customers. However, researchers at the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) have developed a hybrid fruit named Arka Sahan that has a longer shelf life and more pulp.
* Navnath Malhari Kaspate, a farmer from Maharashtra, developed a high-yielding variety of custard apple called NMK-01, which has improved the crop's appearance and resistance to disease.
* Exporting custard apples requires precise planning, temperature control, and specialized equipment to maintain the fruit's shelf life.
* More fruit is being exported as pulp or in a powder form, which is cheaper than air freight and allows large volumes to be transported over weeks without any fruit going to waste.
* In Kolar, Shivareddy plans to expand his business by selling pulp as well as whole apples and setting up a pulp processing unit.