Fruits

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

About the Book

Fruits appeal both to the palate and to the eye, and constitute an important part of our diet. The wide range of climatic conditions found in India makes it possible to grow an immense variety of fruits here. This thoroughly revised and immensely popular publication of the Trust, discusses in detail the various fruits grown in India, the areas of their prevalence, the various aspects relating to their cultivation and promotion, their scientific and regional names, their nutritive value, and the demand for them at home and abroad. It would interest not only the amateur fruit grower and the professional orchardist, but anyone interested in fruits.

About the Authors

Prof. Ranjit Singh, retired as head of the Division of Horticulture & Fruit Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He has taught extensively graduate and post-graduate students about the different fruits found in this country. Widely travelled, he has visited the fruit-growing areas in many parts of India, the U.S.A., Japan and the U.K.

Prof. S.K. Saxena has been a senior scientist at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and now lives in Lucknow.

Preface

It is surprising how little we know about the variety of fruits grown in our own country. The wide range of climatic conditions found in India makes it possible to grow an array of fruits. In North India fruits like mangosteen, rambutan and durian are unknown. In the extreme South, hardly anyone is familiar with apricots, quince, strawberry or raspberry. One of the objects of this book is to bring out the rich variety of fruits found in India, their beauty and their nutritive value. It is also interesting to note how many of our common fruits have been introduced from other countries in comparatively recent times. Such is the case with guava, papaya, pineapple and sapota.

The second object of this book is to give hints on the cultivation of fruits in different parts of India. India is blessed with diverse agro-climatic conditions which are conducive to cultivation of varied Horticultural crops round the year. The horticultural sector has emerged as economically rewarding option for diversification in agriculture and it is playing increasingly important role in country’s nutritional security, poverty elevation and employment generation. The details of the various operations have, therefore, been updated. The peculiarities of each fruit and the important regional aspects have been highlighted. It will serve the interests of all type of readers- both technical and non-technical-in a single volume. It is assumed that the fruit grower is familiar with the basic techniques of horticulture, such as inarching of a mango plant, pruning of apple tree, and budding of an orange tree. Advancement made in these aspects of different fruits under various agro-climatic conditions have further been augmented. A comprehensive list of wild and cultivated fruits found in India, their scientific and regional names and their habitats, as well as the nutritive value of different fruits have been given in appendices at the end of the book.

Any book of this type draws on the knowledge accumulated up to the present time and cannot help repeating information published previously. The Mango by L.B. Singh was an excellent source of information on this fruit. Fruit Growing in India written by W. B. Hayes was helpful for the historical aspects and for the conditions prevailing in North India. South Indian Fruits and Their Culture by K.C. Naik, Horticulture in the Hill Regions of North India by A.R. Thapar and Commercial Fruits of India by G.S. Cheema, S.S. Bhatt and K.C. Naik were useful sources of information on other regions of India. The Wealth of India published by the C.S.I.R., was useful in regard to the botanical nomenclature of most plants. Indian Horticulture Data Base-2003 published by National Horticultural Board, Gurgaon has been of great help with regard to data on the areas of cultivation, productivity and export of fresh fruit and its products, etc. Director, Central Institute for sub- tropical Horticulture, Lucknow is also greatly acknowledged for the description and photographs of newly developed varieties and improved production technology of different fruit crops etc.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research is to be thanked for the loan of blocks and photographs used in the previous edition which have been retained in this book and also for permission to use the appendix about the nutritive value of fruits from their publication Fruit Culture in India.

Contents