First shipment of Indian dragon fruit off to Dubai

For the first time, India has exported dragon fruit to Dubai.

The fruit was grown by two farmers from district Sangli, government of Maharashtra. The total exported volume was 100 kg. 

This exotic fruit is cultivated mainly in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and the U.S. and its production in India began in the early 1990s.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, over the past years, dragon fruit cultivation has been increasing in places like Atpadi, Jath, and Kadegaon. Today, dragon fruit production is replacing sugar cane and grape production in Sangli. 

The cultivation of this fruit requires less water and can be grown in different kinds of soils.

This year, the government of the state of Gujarat changed the name of dragon fruit to ‘Kamalam’ which means "lotus flower" in Sanskrit.