How to Grow Exotic Fruits in India? Popular Exotic Fruits List

Fruits are a great source of water, Vitamin C and fibre that any human diet requires. Moreover, when we think of fruits, we commonly think about apples, oranges, grapes, etc. However, tons of other exotic fruits are rare but worth growing and consuming.

Do you know exotic fruits produce is priced higher and is sold at 50% more than local fruits? Moreover, the Exotic fruit market is estimated to reach Rs. 3000 crores worth! Exotic fruits have huge demand in India, and due to their low maintenance and high profitability, many farmers are volunteering to grow their big times.

Want to grow tropical fruit plants but don’t live in a tropical zone? You don’t have to! So, read on to know how these delicious exotic fruits can be grown in India.

What are Exotic Fruits?

Exotic fruits or foreign fruits in India are a popular variety of fruits that grows in a distant land and have unusual appearances and individuality. Generally, they are not native and are cultivated in some foreign land.

How to Cultivate Exotic Fruits in India?

Exotic fruits require the following conditions to grow, sustain and harvest in India:

• These unique fruits in India can sustain well in soil that is well-drained and rich in organic matter or farmyard manure.
• They should be planted next to some shade, and enough warmth should be provided in winter weather.
• Frequent watering helps keep the soil and root boil moist. And during the hotter days, multiple watering cycles help keep up with the requirements.
• One should avoid fertilizing exotic plants with pesticides during the first two years. A good compost will release useful nutrients required to break down.
• Certain exotic fruits type would need open ground, while others can sustain in patio tubs or pots.

Make Sure You Choose the Top Exotic fruits

Make sure you identify the types of exotic fruits between Passion, pineapple, kiwi, guava, and avocado. These fruits are highly tolerant to cold weather conditions. So, here are a few popular varieties of exotic fruits you can invest in.

Popular Exotic Fruits List – Popular Varieties Cultivable in India

1. Persimmon (जापानी फल)

जापानी फल or Persimmon originates from China and later came to India by some European settlers. Moreover, this fruit is cultivated in the Himalayan region, particularly in the Uttarakhand, Nilgiri Hills, and Jammu & Kashmir. For a fact, the fruit looks identical to a tomato.

This fully ripe fruit is rich in vitamins and minerals and has a tasty, tender, sweet taste. Additionally, the fruit is rich in all carbs, potassium, and vitamin C.

2. Water Apple

Water apple, also known as Syzygium samarangense, is from the Myrtaceae family. However, it’s not an apple.  It is one of the famous tropical fruit that grows throughout Southeast Asia, which includes Malaysia, southern India, and Indonesia. Furthermore, it blooms a medium-sized tree that can go up to 8 meters (when planted from ground level).

Water apples are interchangeably called rose apples, proven to enhance immunity and improve overall heart health. Moreover, the plant produces a yellow berry, an edible fruit with a diameter of 2 to 4 cm. Its interior structure stretches to the point that it creates a hollow fruit consisting of a bell-like seed.

3. Jackfruit

Jackfruit is a rare tropical fruit, having a sweet taste. In addition, this fruit has recently become the official fruit of Kerala. The fruits offer ample health benefits and taste that can add to the cuisine cooked in Kerala style.

4. Longan (Dimocorpus)

This white-fleshed longan fruit belongs to the Sapindaceae family. It is a type of tropical tree that has edible fruit. This fruit belongs to the hills of Assam and Meghalaya and southern China. Moreover, a cool environment, with a ph level ranging between 6 to 6.5, having sensitivity to acidic soil conditions is necessary for the flowering and growth stage. Bihar and West Bengal popularly grow this fruit. Additionally, the tree develops many ranches and can turn up 9 and 12 meters tall in height and 8 meters in breadth.

5. Avocados

Avocados can ideally grow in tropical and subtropical regions. It can thrive in various non-alkaline soil with a ph ranging between 5-7. Additionally, this fruit is not resistant to hot or dry climates and cannot withstand strong winds. Avocados are popular in:

• Eastern Himalayan states of Tamil Nadu
• Kerala
• Maharashtra
• Karnataka
• Sikkim 

To protect these nutritive exotic fruit plants from cold weather and too many frosts, they should be planted in pots on a sunny patio in the summer or placed in a greenhouse during winters. Avocados can grow 5-7 feet tall if planted in a container. Ideally, this fruit takes 12 to 18 months to reach the flowering stage. Further, the fruits typically start to appear.

6. Breadfruit

Some people call it a fruit, while others call it a vegetable; that’s under debate. This one is identical to jackfruit but is cooked like potatoes or yams. The tropical fruit grows popularly in Kerala’s southern state and along Karnataka’s coast (parts of Mangalore). However, it was first cultivated in western Micronesia after originating from New Guinea to the Indo-Malayan Peninsula. Breadfruit commonly hails from tropical rainforests of Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and South India.

7. Kiwi

Kiwi is a most popular tropical fruit that grows well in hot and humid climates.  However, it requires wet, healthy, yet well-drained soil. Moreover, high winds can disturb the growth of these unique plants. This rarest fruit is indigenous to most of China, particularly the woods in the Yangtze River Valley. Additionally, this fruit came to New Zealand in 1904 and now grows in many temperate areas.

8. Dragon Fruit

The dragon fruit tree, an exotic fruit, is typically an ornamental fruit plant.  However, the fruit can thrive in poor soil and variable temperature and thrives in tropical and low-rainfall regions. Plants producing dragon fruit can grow well in hot climates. 

It requires well-drained soil with a balance of good fertilizer density. This fruit can be cultivated in any variety of soil. However, swamped land should be avoided for this fruit’s cultivation. Moreover, the Tropical climate is well suited for this special variety.

This fruit can grow well in less rainfall. However, there should be warm weather, and frosting time is not too long, which can cause yield loss. The fruit can sustain in warm weather and needs full sunlight. But too much sun in dry or particularly hot should be avoided. Otherwise, it can damage the stem. 

What Aftercare to give to Exotic Fruits?

• The fruits should be watered at least once a week. They should be watered enough during the sowing and planting stage, especially.
• During the growing season, ensure you provide your fruits with enough watering, mulching and feeding.
• Watering is immense during exotic fruit cultivation. Adding a thick mulch of any form, be it dry soil or leaves, can help the soil absorb water 5 times more.
• Mulching will help absorb water into the soil but also help release humus that will invite earthworms. And this, in turn, will help improve soil fertility and quality.

Growing these rare fruit species is easy. Moreover, you must feed them enough water and natural organic matter to prevent them from toxic chemicals or environmental substances.

List of Exotic Fruits Popular Worldwide

Exotic Tropical Fruit	Features
Jackfruit	They are a member of the mulberry family and are known as the largest fruit produced on a tree. Most jackfruits grow up to 34 kgs (75 pounds).  This fruit comes from the Indo-Malaysian region and grows in tropical regions worldwide. They can be eaten raw or preserved in syrup. Moreover, its seeds are edible after roasting or boiling.
Mamey	This fruit comes from Mexico and Central America but grows well in Florida too.  This fruit tree can reach a mature height of about 40 feet. The fruit has a pink to reddish brown flesh and brown peel with an interestingly sweet taste.  The fruit is often enjoyed in ice creams, jellies, or preserves.
Passion Fruit	Passion fruit is a beautiful vining plant native to South America.  Vines require a strong fence or trellis followed by well-drained soil to thrive.  The fruit can be either yellow, purple, or red in colour. Furthermore, it has a sweet orange pulp with many seeds. This fruit juice is consumed raw or as a punch.
Kumquat	Kumquats are one of the smallest citrus fruits.  These small evergreen shrubs produce white flowers with golden yellow fruits varying in size from 1 to 2 inches. They have spicy yet acidic flesh that is suitable for eating raw or cooked.
Soursop	The soursop or also called Guanabana, is a small tree of the West Indies. It delivers large, dark green and oval-shaped fruit, weighing 8 to 10 pounds and having a length of (31 cm.  This fruit’s white juicy flesh has a great aroma and is often used for making cool refreshing drinks or sherbets and drinks.
Guava	Guava fruit comes from tropical America, where it has been growing for centuries.  This small tree or shrub has white flowers and yellow berry-like fruit.  This fruit is rich in Vitamins A, B, and C and is commonly used for making pastes, jellies, and preserves.
Jujube	Jujube comes from China and is easy to grow in subtropics.  It is a large bush or small spiny tree having small dark-brown flesh. This fruit can be eaten fresh, dried, or preserved for cooking or even used in making candy.
Loquat	Loquat hails from China but now can grow in most tropical and subtropical areas across the globe. This small evergreen tree has broad leaves and white flowers producing yellow-orange fruits.  This fruit is used for making jellies, sauces, and pies.
Mango	Mangos are one of the oldest tropical fruits hailing from southern Asia. However, it is widely grown in all tropical and subtropical areas. The fruit has a fleshy drupe with a thick yellowish-red skin and a sweet, acidic pulp blend.
Papaya	Papaya is native to the West Indies and Mexico and is grown in the tropics and subtropics.  The fruit has berries that look just like yellow-orange melons. Papaya are a suitable choice for salads, pies, sherbets, and other confections. Unripe Papayas are cooked like squash.
Pomegranate	This healthy fruit from Iran, has a low tree with orange-red flowers and round berry-like yellow or reddish fruits. They taste rich and add great texture to any salad or dish.
Sapodilla	Sapodilla fruit has a tall tree and is sweet in taste.  The tree grows in Florida & the tropics and subtropics.

Which Exotic Fruits Can You Grow Indoors?

The best part about growing these foreign fruits is their location. Therefore, you can sow them in your backyard or even in open-ground tubs. You can easily grow a few varieties in your personal garden:

What to Keep in Mind While Growing Exotic Fruits at Home?

• Give these plants as enough sunlight as possible. Try to place them near a south-facing window. 
• Some tropical fruit plants can survive in brief temperature drops. However, they thrive well if the temperature stays 60 or higher. FYI, these plants sustain long, hot summers and short and warm winters. 
• Many of these plants are native to humid regions, so maintain a humidity level of at least 50%. That’s not the case with every variety. Some fruits, like figs, are from arid regions too.
• These exotic yet tropical fruit plants prefer highly moist yet well-drained soil.

Conclusion

Exotic fruits have huge demand in India for two reasons. Firstly, they are highly nutritive. Secondly, they have huge demand and the potential to scale. India has temperature climatic conditions that can easily sustain the cultivation of these foreign fruits either in open ground or in private gardens.

It is not at all difficult to grow these exotic fruits in India. They should be fed enough nutrients, climatic conditions, and water as they demand. Moreover, before growing them, farmers should pick rare exotic fruits list to identify which one they can keenly grow.

Moreover, exotic fruit farming is successful if it’s paired with the best-farming tractors and a range of implements. So, make sure you have your hands on them!

Frequently Asked Questions on Exotic Fruits Farming

1. What is exotic fruits?

Ans. Exotic fruits are a popular variety of fruits that grows in a distant land and have unusual appearances and individuality. Generally, they are not native and are cultivated in some foreign land.

2. What are the top 10 exotic fruits?

Ans.  Jackfruit, Mamey, Passion Fruit, Kumquat, Soursop, Guava, Jujube, Loquat, Mango and Papaya are the top 10 exotic fruits popular globally.

3. What is rarest exotic fruit?

Ans. Jackfruit is one of the rarest exotic fruits in India.

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