Passion Fruit: nutritious easy fruit crop for Island cropping systems

Passion fruit is a tropical vine, native to South America and being cultivated commercially in most part of tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet-sour, aromatic fruit pulp for fresh consumption as well as juice making. Wide variability has been observed for sweetness of pulp. The fascinating passionflower types exhibit most beautiful flower parts comprising ornamental types too, attracts pollinating insects to the growing garden thereby aiding all other component crops in a cropping system. Passion fruits are round or oval, attractive yellow/ red/ purple/ green coloured, shiny peel. The fruits are soft to firm, interior filled with juicy pulp embedded with numerous seeds. The fruit pulp is consumed either fresh or used for juice making. The juice is added to other fruit juices to enhance aroma and taste. The characteristic aroma of the pulp makes the consumer to feel consuming many other fruits. The ripe pulp provides good number of calories and contains dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals. The climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is suitable for commercial cultivation of passion fruit as component crop in plantation based cropping systems or in home gardens or in community gardens on fences, terraces etc. Passion fruits requires very less care and could be easily grown in the islands with minimum requirement of inputs. In pandals and trellis system, the fruit yield is observed to be higher. Year-round fruiting will give the additional income for the island farmers. Observations revealed that the passion fruit types (purple and light-yellow peel) conserved at ICAR-CIARI commence first flowering in about 9 to 12 months and recorded almost year-round production of fruits on pandals and on fences. The yield ranges from 50 to 150 fruits per vine in the first year and subsequently higher depending on the growing status. Systematic cultivation of passion fruit in our islands could improve the production and marketing of fruits for consumption and value addition. The availability of passion fruit products would enhance nutritional security among the island communities. ICAR-CIARI has conserved passion fruit plants and regularly multiply and sell the planting material to the needy farmers.

Benefit:The climate and soil in the whole of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is highly suitable for passion fruit production. Diversification of island agriculture through crops such as passion fruit would improve the profitability from unit area and ensure nutritional security in remote places.

Source : Contact person with Name, Designation e-mail and phone no: Dr. B. Augustine Jerard, Principal Scientist, augustinejerard.b@icar.gov.in, 9447064463