Breeding of Fruit and Plantation Crops 2 + 1

Introduction

• Plantation crops constitute a large group of crops. The major plantation crops include coconut, arecanut, oil palm, cashew, tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, palmyra etc. Their total coverage is comparatively less and they are mostly confined to small holdings. However, they play an important role in view of their export potential as well as domestic requirements and in employment generation and poverty alleviation programmes particularly in rural sector. In India, these crops are grown over an area of 3.2 million ha (1.82% of the total cropped area), generating an annual income of over Rs. 1,00,000 millions and contributing about Rs. 30,000 million to export earnings. Though historically tea, coffee and rubber were raised as industrial crops in larger estates, currently sizeable area under these crops are in smaller holdings in diverse farming systems.


• There has been considerable research attempts to improve their productivity through genetic means, to formulate package of cultural practices to boost up the yield /ha, to manage major pests and diseases and above all to develop post-harvest technologies and value –added products. Plantation crops are important in many aspects. Coconut “Kalpavriksha” is used as food, edible oil and industrial lubricant. Tender coconut water is a healthy drink. Owing to immense utility coconut is popularly known as the tree of heaven.


• The timber, leaf petiole, shell husk, etc, are useful for various purposes. Arecanut yields a masticator used with betel leaf and also as panmasala, pan parag and scented supari. Oil palm yields palm oil rich in vitamin A and E. Cashew bears apple and nuts having commercial importance. Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) is industrial oil. Cocoa is grown for beans yielding cocoa butter and chocolate cake. Rubber is an industrial crop. Tea and coffee are beverage crops. Palmyra yields padaneer having versatile uses.
• Tea: India is the largest producer and consumer of tea in the world and accounts for around 28 per cent of world production and 15 per cent of world trade. There is no restriction on export of tea and under the present Exim Policy; import of tea is permitted with an import duty of 70 per cent.
• Coffee: Coffee is mainly grown in two states – Karnataka and Kerala which accounts for 82 per cent of country’s production. Robusta and Arabica are the two varieties accounting for 52 per cent and 48 per cent of the area respectively. During recent years area under robusta coffee is increasing. The major buyers of Indian coffee are the Russian Federation and Western Europe.
• Rubber: Rubber is cultivated mainly in Kerala and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu. About 97 per cent of the country’s demand for natural rubber is met from domestic production. Export of natural rubber has been insignificant since international prices are often lower than the domestic prices.
• Coconut: Presently India is the highest producer of coconut in the world. It produces about 14925 million nuts from an area of 1.9 million hectares. The productivity is 7822 nuts /ha which is more than double when compared to that of Indonesia and Philippines.
• Arecanut: Arecanut plays an important role in the social, cultural and economic activities of the people; India is the largest producer of arecanut in the world. The country earns about Rs.45 million annually by exporting arecanut in different forms. The current production is about 5.59lakh tonnes from an area of 397 thousand hectares. Karnataka, Kerala, Assam and Tamil Nadu are the important states producing arecanut.
• Cocoa: Cocoa is a crop of humid tropics of South America. The native Mayas and Aztecs prepared a beverage called ‘xoxoatl’, by roasting and grinding cocoa beans. The word chocolate originated from it. They used cocoa beans even as currency. Later domesticated to many countries and now it is being grown for cocoa products (beverages, chocolate bars, confectionery, powder and liquor). The major producer is Ivory Coast. Africa produces 55% of world production, Asia 23% and America 22%.
• The first cocoa brought to India is said to be in 1798, when 8 plants were shipped from Amazon and planted at Courtallam in Tirunelveli district of Madras state. Later in 1873 few plants were planted in Burliar fruit station. In South India, states of Kerala, Madras and Mysore (Wood, 1964) were found as suitable. The commercial cultivation of cocoa started in India only in 1960’s with Kerala taking the lead. At present, Andhra stands first in area (16,969ha) and Karnataka in production (7250 MT). The demand in Indian chocolate industry is 30,000 MT as against its production (12,954MT). Thus, there is a wide scope for increasing the area under cocoa.
• Cashew: Cashew a native of Eastern Brazil introduced to India just as other commercial crops like Rubber, Coffee and oil palm. It was introduced during 16th Century by the Portuguese and the first introduction of cashew in India was mainly considered as a crop for afforestration and soil binding to check erosion. India is also the largest producer and consumer of cashew nuts. It is estimated that total production of cashew is around 0.57 million tonnes from an area of 0.24 million hectares.