DRAGON FRUIT
- January 21, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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DRAGON FRUIT
Subject: Environment
Context: Government in Gujarat has initiated the process of patenting the name of the variety of dragon fruit grown in Gujarat as ‘kamalam’, which is also the name of the state party headquarters.
Concept:
- Dragon fruit is the fruit of a species of wild cactus indigenous to South and Central America, where it is called pitaya or pitahaya.
- The world’s largest producer and exporter of dragon fruit is Vietnam, where the plant was brought by the French in the 19th century.
- Dragon fruit is also cultivated in — apart from its native Latin America — Thailand, Taiwan, China, Australia, Israel, and Sri Lanka.
- It was brought to India in the 1990s, and is grown in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- It grows in all kinds of soil, and does not require much water.
About the proposal
- ICAR sources said the Gujarat government’s proposal had been forwarded to the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
- Whatever nomenclature, release of varieties, production, it is all done by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
- ICAR officers said such a proposal would need approval from the Botanical Survey of India and the National Biodiversity Authority under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- Dragon fruit is not a species native to India and any change in its nomenclature in official annals can lead to international litigation. Hence, the opinion of BSI and NBA matters.