Dragon fruit cultivation: A potential crop for north eastern hill region

Abstract

In India, dragon fruit has been named as Kamalam and though there are many varieties, the commonly cultivated dragon fruit species are, Hylocereus polyrhizu (Red skin and red flesh), Hylocereus costaricensis (red skin and purple flesh), and Hylocereus undatus (red skin white flesh) and Hylocereus megalanthus (yellow skin white flesh). Red fleshed varieties are mostly preferred in India namely, Moroccan Red, Jumbo Red and Vietnam Red, etc. Rooted stem cuttings (15–25 cm) collected from the mother plants are used as planting material. Planting spacing is 2m × 2m or 3m × 3m (plant to plant and row to row). Concrete poles or even angle iron poles fitted with a tyre on the top are used for supporting the growing plants. Bearing plants are fertilized @11 Kg FYM + 12 Kg vermicompost and 143 g urea + 138 g MOP + 52 g SSP per plant at three months interval for maintaining the tree growth and fruiting. Hand pollination at 7.30–8.30 pm in the night is critical for better fruit set as the flowers arepin type heterostyly in nature. Yield varies from 25–35 kg/pole and around 62.0–85 t/ha.