Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) is a lucrative crop which can be an asset to small-scale plantation. The Agriculture Research and Development Centre (ARDC)-Samtenling introduced the red colour variety of Dragon fruit in 2018. ARDC-Bajo has also started the dragon fruit cultivation with seeds from Samtenling.
It is a perennial fruit crop with fast returns, yielding fruits from the second year of the plantation and full production starting from the fifth year after planting.
The fruit has substantial source of nutrition due to which there is huge demand in many countries. It is rich in protein, fat, fibre, carotene, calcium, phosphorous, iron, vitamin B, vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin and Ash which are good for our immune system.
It is well suited to dry land areas and can be cultivated mixed with other crops in multitier or agro forestry technology. It thrives well in dry sub-tropical and tropical climatic condition with moderate rainfall.
It’s young stem and flower buds are eaten as vegetable while it is consumed as homemade medicine after drying. In Taiwan, dry flowers are consumed as vegetable in the form of juice, jam, salad and other products.
-ICTD
