The rise of the fruit that tastes like custard

An important development from the financial markets: The rise of the fruit that tastes like custard19 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GooglePriti GuptaTechnology Reporter, MumbaiIIHR BangaloreCustard fruit trees can survive months without wateringAshoka Shivareddy comes from a family of farmers, but it was hard to make a living in their drought-prone district of Kolar in southern India. "The area receives rainfall of only 60 to 70 centimetres, and farmers dig borewells of up to 1,300 feet - most of their money goes into chasing water," he says. Amid mounting losses the family gave up farming and in 2005 moved to the city - to Bengaluru - and started a vegetable shop.

Shivareddy became an AI software engineer, but he never lost the farming bug. In 2018 he decided to revive the family farm, but with a more scientific approach. "I was looking for a crop that could survive with very little water, grow with rainfall, and not depend heavily on pesticides," he explains.

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Custard apple seemed to be a good fit. A knobbly fruit the size of a large avocado, its creamy, sweet flesh tastes a bit like custard - hence the name. Custard apple trees grow wild in Shivareddy's area and locals would harvest the fruit and sell it at the market.

That seemed promising to Shivareddy. Looking to maximise his yield, he planted trees closer together than on typical farms. Shivareddy also carefully selected three varieties, each with different benefits.

The approach appears to be working. "Last year I produced around 20 tonnes. This year, it's about 25 tonnes.

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There is huge demand for custard apple in India and abroad," he says. Getty ImagesThe sweet, creamy flesh of the fruit tastes a bit like custardWhile custard apples can survive in dry conditions, there are challenges to growing them. The traditional variety Balangar has a very short shelf life, sometimes as little as a three or four days, which limits the farmer's selling options.

It also has a lot of seeds, making it less attractive to the customer. "Traditional varieties have excellent flavour, but they suffer from low pulp content, high seed count, and a very poor shelf life," says Dr Sakthivel T, principal scientist at Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) in Bangalore. His team developed a hybrid fruit, named Arka Sahan, which can survive for a week at room temperature and has fewer seeds and more pulp.

Over the past 20 years this variety has spread across southern India. "The shift from 30% pulp recovery in wild varieties to 70% recovery in hybrids like Arka Sahan has effectively doubled the usable harvest for farmers without needing more land," Sakthivel says. His team is now looking at better ways to process the fruit and extract the pulp, so it can be more widely used in processed foods like ice cream and milkshakes.

Economists are analysing what the news means for the markets.