- Kamalam or Dragon Fruit, a herbaceous perennial climbing cactus widely known as Pitaya.
- It has its origin in Southern Mexico, Central America and South America. It is widely cultivated in South-East Asia, India, USA, The Caribbean Islands, Australia throughout the tropical and sub-tropical world.
- Pitaya, called as Dragon fruit in English, is popular by different names such as Pithaya in Mexico, Pitaya Roja in Central and Northern America, Pithajah in Thailand and Kamalam after the Sanskrit name lotus in India. It is also known as “Wondrous Fruit of the 21st century”.
- The Kamalam (Dragon fruit) has recently drawn much attention of the growers worldwide, not only because of their red purple colour and economic value as food products but also for their enormous health benefits.
- Historical evidence indicates that the French introduced the crop to Vietnam about 100 years ago and it was grown for the King. Later, it became popular among the wealthy families of the entire country.
- In India, the cultivation of Kamalam Fruit is fast picking up and farmers of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Mizoram and Nagaland have taken up its cultivation.
- In India, Kamalam import started during 2017 with a quantity of 327 tonnes, which has increased sharply to 9,162 tonnes in 2019 and the estimated import for 2020 and 2021 is about 11,916 and 15,491 tonnes, respectively.
- The target for area expansion under MIDH for Kamalam is 50,000 ha. in 5 years.
- Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has approved a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Kamalam Fruit to be established by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, Karnataka at Hirehalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka on 09-03-2023 to focus on production, post-harvest and value addition of Kamalam.
