Now a dragon fruit festival in UP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, according to the government spokesman, has also directed officials to hold a Dragon fruit festival and focus on its health benefits and medicinal value.

Lucknow: After the ‘Strawberry festival’, Uttar Pradesh will be holding more such festivals that focus on unconventional crops of fruits and vegetables. Soon, sweet potato festival will be held in Gorakhpur as part of this series.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, according to the government spokesman, has also directed officials to hold a Dragon fruit festival and focus on its health benefits and medicinal value.

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Dragon fruit is considered a super fruit which is extremely rich in fibre, calcium, magnesium, iron and vitamin A and C while it is devoid of fat. It is also an antioxidant. Dragon fruit is highly effective in controlling sugar.

Meanwhile, the government plans to hold a guava festival in Prayagraj, a banana festival in Kushinagar and aonla (gooseberry) festival in Pratapgarh.

All these fruits figure in the ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) scheme of the government.According to olericulturist, Dr SP Singh, dragon fruit plant starts producing fruits after two years of plantation and can produce for 20 to 25 years.

The plant is not watered during the budding phase. If proper pruning is done on the plant after four-five years, it can produce 100 to 150 quintals of fruit per hectare.

The UP government will be holding festivals of fruits to encourage farming and consumption of fruits that will enhance the immunity and overall health of the population and, at the same time, guarantee fair price to the farmers growing them.