World's tastiest fruit takes root in Senapati district
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 11 2008: Considered to be one of the most valuable and tastiest fruits available in the world, Kiwi fruit has been successfully cultivated in Senapati district thanks to the efforts of scientists of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Hengbung.

Originally, an indigenous fruit type found on the Yangtze river valley of northern China and Zhejiang province on the coast of eastern China, the fruit is today more popularly known as 'Kiwi' after the native bird of New Zealand whose brown fuzzy coat resemble the peel of this unique fruit.

At its native China, Kiwi fruit is known as Yang Tao.

According to history, the seeds of Kiwi fruits were first brought out of China by missionaries to New Zealand at the turn of the 20th century but the commercial plantings took shape several decades later.

Talking to The Sangai Express in connection with successful cultivation of Kiwi fruit for the first time in the State, Horticulturist of KVK (Hengbung) Kh Nodiachand Singh informed that cultivation of Kiwi was started for the first time with seeds brought from ICAR, Sikkim in 2003 .

kiwi fruits grown in the Hengbung plantation site

Although the plants have been bearing fruits for the last three years, no efforts have been made to market the product.

Since the fruit was the first of its kind in Manipur, they were mainly given to acquaintances as gift to savour the taste.

Subsequently, 170 Kiwi plants have been cultivated.

However, as the quantity of rainfall was very less, only 50 plants survived.

The surviving plants have now started bearing fruits.

Each of the plant can produced around 25 to 50 kgs of Kiwi fruits.

Even if the products are not taken to the market, the fruits are being sold at Rs 150 to Rs 180 per kg among the local populace.

In 2007, the total output of Kiwi fruits was 520 kgs and this year 120 kgs have been produced so far, Nodiachand informed.

On the method of cultivating Kiwi fruits, he explained that Kiwi plants are grape vine and the bearing of the fruits is also like that of grape.

However, differences between the two fruit plants exist with the Kiwi plant having male and female variety.

Cultivation from seeds is time consuming so cultivation from issue culture is more preferable as it takes less time for the plant to grow and bear fruits.

Matua and Tomuri are the types of male plants of Kiwi while Bruno, Monty and Hayward are the female plants.

At the time of planting, one Tomuri or Matua should be planted along with nine plants of Bruno or Monty or Hayward.

Bearing of the fruits take place through the process of pollination when the pollen grains from the male plants are transferred to the female plant by the bees or wind.

The fruits consist of a hairy, brown peel containing green flesh with white pulp in the centre and surrounded by black edible seeds.

The fruit has a sweet taste similar to a mixture of Banana, Pineapple and Strawberry.

Nutrition-wise, Kiwi fruits contain about as much potassium as Bananas and 1.5 times the DRI for Vitamin C.It is also rich in Vitamin A and E and black seeds can be crushed to produce Kiwi fruit oil which is very rich in Alfa-Linoleic Acid, an important Omega-3 essential fatty acid.

Studies have proven that Kiwi fruits are useful in improving conditions of asthmatic children and in decreasing the probability of colon cancer by providing a good amount of dietary fibre.

However, Kiwi fruits can be allergic to some individuals, since they contain a protein dissolving enzyme called 'actinidin', the most common symptoms being itching of the mouth, lips and palate and can be range to a more severe level such as wheezing or collapsing.

Suitable to low chill winter areas, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are the two leading producers of Kiwi fruits in India.

Currently, Italy, New Zealand, Chile, France, Japan and the United States are among the leading commercial producers of Kiwi fruits in the world.