Dragon fruit

DRAGON FRUIT
Origin and distribution:
The fruit has been originated in Mexico of South America; native to Central America as well.Travelling through different Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Srilanka, Phillipines, Combodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, it has recently been introduced to Nepal as an exotic fruit. It was brought from Vietnam through a friend by Veterinary Doctor Dr. Jagannath Rai in 2057 BS but its development as commercial production has just been started few years back only.
Scientific name: Hylocereus undatus
Family: Cactaceae

Botany of the fruit:
Stems are succulent and triangular with high margins on branches. Flowers are usually white or pink coloured in large size with bell shaped and tubular. It blooms flowers at night with an excellent fragnant smell. Fruit is fleshy with skin colours of red, yellow or purple. Fruit pulp colour can be in red, white, yellow or pink with black seeds. Fruit will have sweet or slightly sour taste.

Health Benefits:
- Have anti-aging properties,helps in treating acne and promotes skin health.
- Lowers cholesterol, lowers blood sugar level and improves blood haemoglobin so fruits are good for heart health.
-Prevents some type of cancers and congenital glaucoma.
-Good for pregnant women and dengue patients.
-Boosts immune power and brain function.
-Also said to be curing respiratory disorders.

Varieties (Cultivars):
Hylocereus undatus ( Red skin with white flesh)
Hylocereus polyrhisus ( Red leather with red fruit flesh)
Hylocereus costaricensis ( Red leather with dark red fruit flesh somewhat purplish)
Hylocereus megelanthus ( Yellow skin with white flesh)

Climatic requirement:
The fruit can be grown in both tropical and subtropical climatic conditions. Trees love sunlight and survive with minimal average annual rainfall. Since it is sensitive to frost conditions, it should be avoided from cold.

Soil requirement:
It can be grown in wide range of soils. However well drained sandy loam soils rich in organic matter are ideal for its growth. Water stagnation causes root rot disease resulting in heavy crop loss so proper drainage should be managed. Ideal soil pH range is 5.0 to 8.5.

Propagation:
Dragon fruit can be propagated by seeds and cuttings. Since seed propagation is little tough and takes longer time to grow, commercial growers prefer the propagation through cuttings. For better yield, 2-3 years old strong and dark green healthy(damage free and pest free) branches should be selected for transplanting in field.

Land preparation:
2-3 deep ploughing till it reaches fine tilth stage
Weed free soil with fence around the field for protection against predators is better.

Planting and spacing:
Beds of 45-50 cm height and 3 m broad with loose soil should be prepared. It can be provided with 1200-1300 supporting poles/ha. with distance between tree to tree of 3m*3m. Supporting poles should be 12 cm in diameter and 2 m long. 4 cuttings can be accomodated for each supporting poles, soil covered with straw.

Irrigation:
It requires very less water as compared to other fruit crops as it belongs to cactus family. On an average, each dragon plant requires 1 to 2 litres of water/day during the summer/ drought days.

Manures and fertilizers:
More Nitrogen is required during initial stages of plantation and the fertilizer should contain Phosphorus and Potassium during flowering or fruit set stage.
Application of urea should be avoided since it may cause stem rot.
Well decomposed Farm Yard Manure of 5-10 kg/plant for every 45 to 60 days should be applied.
In subsequent years, dose of fertilizers should be increased.

Harvesting:
The fruit normally fruits 18-24 months after plantation. Maturity of fruit is identified by fruit skin colour. Usually, fruits change from bright green to red or pink at maturity.