Food

Dragon Fruit Cultivation with Step by Step Guidelines

Dragon Fruit Cultivation with Step by Step Guidelines

Dragon fruit is famous in Vietnam, Israel, Thailand and Sri Lanka in India. The cultivation of this fruit is excellent in areas with less rainfall. This fruit plant is considered an ornamental plant and a fruit-producing plant. Dragon is consumed as fresh fruit or can be used in jelly production, jams, ice-cream fruit juices. This fruit is also used in face packs.

When you go into commercial dragon cultivation in India, you need to know the factors to add to your information. You require different tools for dragon cultivation such as Tractors, rotavators, cultivators and harvesters are important tools in farming. Tractors play a major role in farming, and you can use a Farmtrac 60 powermaxx and any other tractor for dragon cultivation.

Process of Dragon Farming in India

Here we are describing dragon farming with complete specifications.

Dragon Fruit Cultivation – Climate Requirement

This fruit plant can tolerate poor temperature conditions and soil variations. However, tropical climatic areas are the best for their cultivation. Dragon fruit requires the 50 cm minimum annual rainfall and temperature about  20 °C to 30 °C. For better yield, it needs too much sunlight. Too much sunlight is not good for dragon cultivation; in areas with more sunlight, shading can be provided for better yield.

Dragon Cultivation – Propagation and Planting Method

Cutting is the most common propagation method in dragon fruit cultivation. However, you can also propagate it through seeds. But since seeds take longer and will not continue with the characteristics of the parent plant, this method is not suitable for commercial cultivation. You should get the cuttings of the plants from quality mother plants. You should use cuttings of about 20 cm in length for planting in the field. Stack these cuttings two days before potting.

Then you should pot these cutting with a planting mixture of Dry cow dung: Topsoil: Sand as 1:1:2. Farmers should place these pots in the shade before planting. Keep the 2-metre x 2-metre plant to plant space and keep the 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm dig the pit size. You should fill these pits with topsoil and compost with 100 grams of superphosphate.    

Dragon Fruit Cultivation – Train the Plant

For proper development and growth of the plant, you should support it through concrete or wooden pillars. Immature plant stems are need to bind to these pillars. You should keep the Lateral shoots in limits and also allow 2 to 3 main stems to grow. (Make sure that the lateral buds are periodical). It is recommend to have a round/circular metal frame to maintain a balanced dragon shrub.

 Dragon Fruit Cultivation – Manures and Fertilizers

Organic matter plays a core role in developing and growing dragon fruit. You should apply each plant of the dragon with 10 to 15 kg of organic manure/organic fertilizers. After this, increase the amount of organic manure by 2 kg per year. This dragon crop also requires inorganic fertilizers for vegetative growth. This fertilizer ratio in the vegetative stage is as follows. Muriate of Potash: Super Phosphate: Urea = 40:90:70 g/plant.

You should apply the organic fertilizers @ various levels, from flowering to harvesting. Apply the following fertilizer mixtures at flowering (April), fruit development stage (July-August) and after fruit harvesting (December).

Dragon Cultivation – Irrigation Requirement

These plants need less water rather than other plants. However, you need to irrigate during the flowering, planting, fruit development stage and hot, dry climatic conditions. You can use drip irrigation for the effective utilization of water.

Harvesting of Dragon Fruit

Dragon fruits are ready for harvesting 1 month after flowering. The fruiting period continues till December. These fruits can be harvested up to 6 times during this period. Identifying the harvesting stage of the fruit is very simple as the immature fruits are bright green and will turn red after ripening. The right time to harvest is 3 to 4 days after the colour change. But in the case of export, they should be harvested after 1 day of colour change. Use a sickle or hand to pick the fruit.

Health Benefits of Dragon Fruits

  • Dragon fruit is rich in antioxidants such as phenolic acid, flavonoids and betacyanin. These substances protect your cells from damage through free radicals – molecules that can lead to diseases such as cancer and premature ageing.
  • It is naturally high in fibre and fat-free. This dragon fruit makes a great snack as it can help keep you full for longer between meals.
  • It can help lower your blood sugar. Researchers define it because it replaces damaged cells in your pancreas that make insulin, the hormone that helps your body break down sugar.

Equipment Requirement

With the above information regarding dragon cultivation, you should also know the equipment that will help to boost the yield.  Tillers, Rotavators, cultivators, and tractors are essential in the cultivation process. However, the Farmtrac 45 tractor is the most pivotal equipment for dragon fruit farming.

For more information regarding dragon fruit farming, stay tuned with us.

Apart from that if you want to know about perfect juice recipe then visit our Lifestyle category.

abdul waheed

Abdul Waheed is a seasoned business blogger, specializing in entrepreneurship and small business management. With over 10 years of experience, he offers invaluable insights and practical guidance to aspiring entrepreneurs, helping them navigate the challenges of starting and growing a successful business.

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