Dragon Fruit/Pitaya: Farming Detailed Guide, How To Eat Dragon Fruit, Nutrition, Benefits — Signup Trending Nature

29 min readJan 17, 2021

Dragon fruit farming detail guide, how to eat/cut dragon fruit, taste of dragon fruit, investment and profit/loss of dragon fruit, pitaya, yellow pitaya, rarest dragon fruit, best quality dragon fruit, pitaya bowl etc.

I have tried my best to cover all the topics still if you find to add something please feel free to comment below..

“ Suggestions are Valuable”

The History of Dragon Fruit

Vietnam is the place where dragon fruit is extensively grown, pitaya fruit is known as Thalang loy. It is believed that the super fruit was introduced to Vietnam by the French we can also say that French is the pitallas of pitaya, and today the average yield per hectare is 22–26 tonnes, that is a milestone itself.

According to Aztec literature Pitahaya fruit date back to the 13th century. The dragon fruit is native to Central America.

Malaysia is another warm region where you are sure to find the dragonfruit. It was first introduced in 1999 in Sitiawan, Johar and Kuala Pilah regions. If you are asked about commercial use of this fruit, then I can suggest Colombia and Nicaragua are other places where pitahaya fruit is grown for commercial purposes.

It does not mean that cultivation of dragon fruit is situated only the places as mentioned above.

These regions attest that Pitaya cactus fruit requires a warm climate, thus prospers well in semi-arid areas. Planting the fruit has extraordinarily high prospects since it’s industrially used in juices, making wine and flavourings, not forgetting its medicinal value, which many people have grown to trust.

While dragon fruit is a cousin of the cactus pear, the two fruit exhibit key differences: first, pitaya seeds are edible much like kiwi fruit; secound the fruit does not typically have spines, instead processing various coloured protective shoots that surround the baseball-sized fruit in the United States, dragon fruit continues to gain popularity, which is spurring in expansion in commercial production.

What is Dragon Fruit?

Dragon fruit is a cousin of cactus or we can say it belongs to cactus species. It is a tropical fruit. Dragon fruit grows on the Hylocereus cactus, also known as the Honolulu queen, whose flower only open at night. Pitaya fruit is a tropical fruit native to Mexico and the United States of America. Somehow, I wouldn’t say I liked the taste of this cactus fruit when I tasted it the first time. It’s taste is like a combination of a kiwi and a pear. Dragon fruit is also known as pitaya, pitahaya, and strawberry pear.

Why is the fruit called dragon fruit?/ How the fruit got the name dragon fruit?

It is called dragon fruit because this fruit’s colour is very similar to the dragon colour. It contains bright red skin with green scales that resembles dragon; hence the name has fallen dragon fruit. Because it is a historic fruit, there are different reason for the name, it is the matter of relevancy.

Dragon fruit may look exotic, but its flavour are similar to other fruits. Its taste has been described as a slightly sweet cross between a kiwi and a pear. The most widely available variety has white pulp with black seeds exists. Another variety — referred as yellow dragon fruit — has yellow skin and white pulp with black seeds.

Is Pitaya and Dragon fruit are the same

Yes pitaya, pitahaya or dragon fruit all are the same. If you use, yahoo, google search or bing, or any other search engine to sort your query, you will find that it is most searched as pitaya in Brazil, France, Mexico, Turkey, Spain and USA. In countries like India, United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Canada, Philippines, it is mostly searched as dragon fruit. In Vietnam dragon fruit is known as thalang loy.

It seems dark puplish red flesh from fruit grown in Colombia and Nicargua, Which is like a sweet juicy, meaty watermelon. Here I would like to clarify that dragon fruit is actually a cousin of the cactus pear.

Dragon fruit contains small amount of several nutrients. It’s also a descent source of iron, magnesium, and fibre.

Given the high amount of fibre and magnesium and the extremely low calorie content, dragon fruit can be considered a highly nutrient-dense fruit.

In today’s era BP and Sugar are the most common diseases so here a question raises. Is dragon fruit high in sugar ? Then, I must say dragon fruit is a low calorie fruit that contains less sugar and few carbs than many other tropical fruits.

Both red and white varieties of dragon fruit have been show to reduce insulin resistance and fatty liver in obese mice.
Red pitaya betacyanins protect from diet-induced obesity, liver steatosis and insulin resistance in association with gut microbiota modulation in mice.

signuptrendingnature.com

Red pitaya betacyanins protect from diet-induced obesity, and its related metabolic disorders, which are associated with improve inflammatory status and gut microbiota modulation, specially its ability to decrease firmicutes’ ratio Bacteroidetes and increase the relative abundance of Akkaramansia.
The study suggested a clinical implication of HPBN in managing obesity, non alcoholic fatty lever disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Top ten benefits of dragon fruit

Rich in antioxidants like flavonoids, phenolic and betacyanin.
The protein component of the pitaya fruit enhances the body’s metabolism.
It’s naturally fat free and high in fibre.
Carotene helps maintain and equally improve the health of the eyes.
Phosphorous aids in tissue formation.
It contains prebiotics, which are food that feed the healthy bacteria called probiotics in your gut.
It can strength your immune system.
Vitamin B1 assists in the production of energy as well as metabolizing carbohydrates.
Vitamin B2 acts as a multivitamin to recover and improve loss appetite.
Vitamin B3 lowers bad cholesterol level and enhances the appearance of the skin by moisturizing and smoothening it.

How to eat Dragon Fruit/How to cut Dragon Fruit

When we see the shape and size of dragon fruit, it straight comes in our mind- how to cut dragon fruit and how to eat it, whether it strikes funnily or it may come irritatingly, but it comes while seeing a pitaya fruit first time.

Don’t worry I am sharing the correct method of eating dragon fruit with you. For the most part, dragon fruit is eaten in its raw form.

To enjoy dragon fruit, you can slice it in half scoop out the slightly firm flesh with a spoon, eat it right out of the shell, or use a spoon to cut & remove the flesh from the skin.

Let me make it more easy:

First select a ripe fruit with bright red, evenly coloured skin that gives less when squeezed.
You can use a sharp knife but be alert while using a knife and remember one thing don’t give the knife to your kids as they can harm themselves. Cut straight through the fruit, slicing it in half.
Now you can use a spoon to eat the fruit out of the skin or peel the skin off and slice the pulp into small pieces.

Note- Eating a dried pitaya fruit equals eating 10x the punch of a fresh pitaya fruit, constituting essential vitamins such as vitamin C, micronutrients and fibre. Thus, consumption of 1.5 oz of a dried dragon fruit equates to almost eating a full pound of the fresh dragonfruit.

All the necessary and important dietary fibre, micronutrients and vitamin C are still in abundance in dried dragon fruit.

How does dragon fruit taste

Pitaya fruit tastes like a mix between a kiwi and a pear. While a fresh pitahaya fruit contains lots of water, justifying the soft creamy texture you feel when eating it fresh, a dry pitahaya fruit features a chewy feel and generally appears darker than the fresh fruit.

This then explains the phrase “colour your diet” for this amazing fruit rich in all vital nutrients that your body requires, and what is more, it is very easy to eat. Taste of dragon fruit is sweet fresh and slightly sour.

One can also try various dragon fruit recipes

Hence can easily make dragon fruit juice, dragon fruit shake, ice cream, jelly, marmalade and preserves, juice, pastries, pulp, and yogurt.

Can I eat dragon fruit daily

I am not a doctor, but I know that excess of anything is harmful, or we can say dangerous for example there is hardly any person who hates rainy showers but imagine what happens when it occurs in excess. Sometime it creates mud, and sometimes it just destroys the whole town or city by fluid so there should be limitations not only in eating things but also in our relationships.

Anyways, I would say the daily recommendation for adults is at least 25 grams and dragon fruit packs 7 grams in a single one cup serving.

It contains a high amount of fibre and magnesium and the extremely low calorie content, and dragon fruit can be considered a highly nutrient-dense fruit.

“Fiber of dragon fruit benefits gastrointestinal and cardiovascular health.” Dragon fuit is a low calorie fruit high in fibre and provides many vitamins and minerals. It is beneficial if one is obsessed with obesity and trying hard to lose weight. It is quite popular due to its fibre and antioxidant content.

Does Dragon Fruit make you Poop

Dragon fruit is not only pretty to look at, but it’s also full of health benefits! here a question is often asked, does this include helping you poop? I have done some research here’s what I have found and hope you will be satisfied, but I have to give some credit to health briefly.com because I found the appropriate answer for my search.

As if we know dragon fruit is rich in fibre, which plays a significant role in the digestive process. Fibre helps increase water in your stools and adds bulk to them, making them softer and more comfortable to pass through the colon.
Dragon fruit contains oligosaccharides, a type of fibre that acts as a prebiotics that promotes the growth of good bacteria in your gut such as lactobacilli and bifidobacterial. These bacteria are known as good bacteria as they play an essential role in keeping your gut healthy and functioning correctly.
Dragon fruit can help you get rid of constipation by making you poop more because of its high fibre content. Pitahaya fruit is also known to help with IBS (irritable bowl syndrome).

Is dragon fruit allergic? does dragon fruit have side effects?

Reactions of dragon fruit

Overall dragon fruit appears to be safe. However, people may develop an allergic reaction in some rare cases.

In two cases, women with no history of food allergies developed anaphylactic reactions after consuming a fruit mixture that contained dragon fruit.

Testing confirmed that they had antibodies against dragon fruit in their blood.

These are the only two reported allergic reactions at this point, but other people may be allergic to this fruit without knowing it.

Therefore we can say there isn’t enough reliable information to know if taking dragon fruit as medicine is safe or what the side effects might be.

Does dragon fruit make you lose weight?

One whole pitaya fruit contains just 60 calories and only eight grams of sugar. That is terrific compared to other fruits, one apple is about eighty calories, where banana and mango carries 100 calories.
Hence, the lesser calories we will intake the lesser weight we will gain. If you will take fewer calories and burn more than there is a high possibility to reduce weight or burn belly fat, if you work harder you might reduce tummy in just seven days.
Yes there are very high chance to lose weight via dragon fruit but at the same time you should be strict with your other food habits, like one should avoid oily food just stay away from junk food otherwise only dragon fruit cant do anything.

How to lose weight from 100 kgs to 50–60 kgs if someone asks question like this, one will instantly think about the calories. Here I can add a question for you how we gain wait? And the answer is simple it depends on a formula,

how much calories we are burning in and how much calories we are burning out.

I can make it clear with this example:

If you are eating two chapatis of 25 gram each (1chapati+1chapati=200 calories) (1chapati of 25gram = 100 calories) that means you are taking 200 calories and if you are burning (running, exercise, jogging etc) only 160 calories, rest 40 calories will store in your body. If this process continues than you are adding everyday extra 40 calories.

Which colour dragon fruit is best

Colours are often colourful, when you are happy. Anyways, dragon fruit carries different colours.

Yellow and Red dragon fruits are best colour dragon fruits, quality-wise and even taste-wise they are more sweeter than white coloured dragon fruit.

I can share a quick briefing of the countries that cultivate dragon fruit in various colours.

Vietnam is Asia’s top producer, primarily growing fruit with bright pink skin and white flesh; other Asian countries cultivating the fruit include Malaysia, Philippines, Srilanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

Nicargua and Ecuador both grow significant amounts of a pink skin dragon species deep to light pink flesh. Ecuador also grows a yellow- skinned variety with white flesh, which is also cultivated in Colombia, Mexico, Cost Rica, El Salvador and Guatemla are also seasonal producers.

It best to hand pitaya fruit at harvest when well coloured from yellow or pink to red.

Moreover, I will say “C” type dragon fruit is the best which falls mostly in red colour.

You can order Pitaya bowl and Pitaya foods online as well, for better results check- amazon, flipkart, freshdirect.com etc.

What is Pitaya Food

One can made pitaya food at home as well they are a healthy, colourful and tasty option for any meal. They are packed with nutritious ingredients like blueberry, almond, pineapple, granola, mango, milk, and dragon fruit. These tasty components are beautifully arranged in a visually pleasing way that makes them looks more beautiful.

Pitahaya food consist of pink, red and yellow pitaya fruits.

Pitaya is also known as dragon fruit; taste like a mix between a kiwi and a pear.

What is the price of a single dragon fruit

If you are thinking to grow dragon fruit at your home or your farm, then the first ever question strikes to your mind as it did strike to me as well, is — the cost of dragon fruit plant cutting is?

The cost of one dragon fruit seedling or cutting is Rs 30 per plant

Dragon fruit is a fruit of warm climate, it loves sunlight and heat, but that also should not be excessive. However, this fruit plant survives in poor soil conditions and temperature variations, but the tropical climate region is best for pitaya plant.

Hence it’s a subtropical plant; dragon fruit loves warm weather and partial sun. If you live in a high altitude area where the climate is colder, you can still grow dragon fruit, but make sure you do so in pots, and don’t put it outside, significantly if below 28F

Dragon fruit grows on cactus plant which love warm, humid climates and need very little water. Dragon fruit plants are a subtropical plant which needs at least six hours of sunlight per day. They will also grow well in a warm and sunny spot indoors.

Choose a spot that’s as dry and as sunny as can be. In hot climates, such as tropical or subtropical climates, place the Pitaya Mexicana plant in a semi shaded area.

If possible, try not to expose the dragon fruit plant to temperature below 32F (OC), or temperature above 100F (38C)- both of these extremes can be fatal to your plant.

What is the soil required for dragon fruit

Soil requirement for dragon fruit cultivation

Water Required for dragon fruit plant

Best time to plant dragon fruit

How to grow dragon fruit from seeds and cuttings

How to plant dragon fruit from cuttings/How long does it take to grow plant from cutting?

How to grow dragon fruit from cuttings- Cut a 6–15 inch (12–38cm) stem from a plant (the parent plant) at least one-year-old. Cut at an angle for best results. Let the cut stem heal for about a week in a dry place.
I highly recommend the drip irrigation technique, that is most useful while planting dragon fruit on a large scale. Use a concrete pole to support your plant because it is a climbing plant and needs support in initial days.

How to grow dragon fruit from seeds

If one uses seeds instead of cuttings to have dragon fruits, he should know that it takes a longer time to grow than plant cuttings. It may take more than 16 months to produce fruits, while plant cutting only take 8 months to deliver fruits.
Anyways choice and circumstances both are yours, be sure to acquire good quality, preferably organic seeds from a reputed seller.
To grow dragon fruit from seeds —

Slice a dragon fruit in half and use a spoon to scrape some seeds. Rinse the seeds. Pulp will cling to the seeds, and it’s fair to plant with it attached. Fill a small pot with sterile seed starter or cactus soil mix. Moisten the soil but avoid saturating it with water. Use a spoon to mix the seed into the top quarter-inch of soil. Make sure this layer is moist and then cover with a plastic sandwich bag or clear food wrap. The cover will retain moisture and warmth
Note — Growing dragon fruit from seeds can take several years to bear fruit, but in the meantime, you will have a stunning flowering cactus.

How to plant a dragon fruit at your home or garden

How to grow dragon fruit in your pot

How many varieties of dragon fruit are there and which is the best quality dragon fruit variety.

The most common varieties of dragon fruit are

Hylocereus undatus : White flesh with pink/red skin most popular in Australia.
Hylocereus Megalanthus : White flesh with yellow skin.
Hylocereus Costaricensis : Purple/red flesh and pink/red skin.

Hylocereus Megalanthus- This type of dragon fruit has a white fruit flesh and a yellow shell. The shell of this variation is a bit thornier than the rest of the variations, so it is rarer to see in a garden.
Hylocereus Undatus- This is a variation with same white flesh, but exterior of this fruit is red.
Hylocereus Costaricensis- This type of fruit is red in colouration on both the shell and the flesh. The flesh is often a deep red colouration that looks almost unnatural or blood-like.

Hylocereus Megalanthus is the best quality dragon fruit, also known commonly as the Yellow Ecuador Palora dragon fruit. It is also known as, yellow pitahaya, is the sweetest dragon fruit.

While chosing dragon fruit no need to think which dragon fruit is best between red and white dragon fruit, just chose red dragon fruit instead of a white one.

when it comes to price yellow and red dragon fruits are the most expensive dragon fruits, white dragon fruit is the cheapest dragon fruit.

Which is the rarest dragon fruit in the world

Tyalgum Purple Dragon Fruit is the rarest fruit in the world. That is considered as superior quality fruit.

What is the best fertilizer for dragon fruit plant

Fertilizer for pitaya can be divided into two parts organic and inorganic. Inorganic fertilizer has better control over nutrients and can be complimented with that of organic fertilizers.

Organic fertilizers like compost or manure have the advantage of releasing nutrients more slowly. Therefore the combination with inorganics, whose release is faster, is a good option.

How to make organic fertilizer at home

How and when to fertilize dragon fruit

You must be curious to know how and especially when to feed plant with fertilizer.

Apply fertilizer after 2 to 3 months after planting a dragon fruit tree. It is when the tree starts growing. During the first year after planting a dragon fruit cactus, fertilize every eight weeks with light doses (1/4 1b) of fertilizer.

Once the trance plant is done, and during the first 30 days, it is not fair to apply any fertilizer. After those days, and once you start to notice the first spring buds, you can apply an 8–3–9 or 6–6–6 type fertilizer in a four-ounce amount.

This fertilization should be done every 60-days, until the first autumn days. Be sure to spread the fertilizer evenly. Start fertilizing a couple of inches from the stem, extending is 10–15 inches from the stem. After application make good irrigation.

Apply approximately four pounds of organic fertilizer during the summer. Never overlap both fertilizers, organic and inorganic, try to have a month of difference between one and the other.

Since as the plant grows, its nutrient needs increase proportionally, the amounts of fertilizers to be applied to plants older than two years should be higher. Increase the amount. in the case of inorganic fertilizer, application goes from 4 ounces to 5 and since the roots are further away, apply them at a greater distance (not less then 18 inches from the stem).

Lets have a look in short

Different ways to pollinate dragon fruit

Correct way to prune dragon fruit

It is best to prune dragon fruit plant regularly to control the size and improve air circulation. it will also help prevent fungal infections and diseases. If left to its own devices, the tree can grow up to 20 feet in height. Prune the tree annually by removing any dead stems as well

as over going.

How to care dragon fruit with different ideas

Mealybugs and aphids can be a common problem for dragon fruit. They are sap-sucking pests that feed on the sweet sap of the plant. Aphids also attracts ants, who will then feed on the plant. Mites and thripes can also hinder; they will not kill the plant, but they are not suitable for their overall health.

Dragon spots, which occur on the stems and leaves of a plant, can be the sign that your plant has an infection. Bacteria can cause other issues as well as soft stem root. It is a disease that affects the ends of the branches. These illness are typically transfered from plant to plant, so sterilize your clippers. Sunburn can occur during the hottest time of the year when the sun is sweltering hot, and if too much water is given to the plant, rot can also occur.

You can often think what is eating my dragon fruit plant? How do I keep ants off my dragon fruit plant, can I used vinegar to kill aphids and ants, what insects pests attack dragon fruit, how do I get rid of aphids permanently, do coffee grounds kill aphids? These are some irritating but anxious questions. Stop overthinking and start implementing the solutions; I have tried to cover some of them.

Indeed, pests on our fruit plants are annoying, and every one would like to remove them at once. The most important thing is to be vigilant. Pests come from opportunity and chance, by regular care, we can minimize the chance pests infest our plant and remove most opportunities for them. There are various methods to remove various pests. Some are specific to a certain kind while other might be more general. It recommended to combined several methods for better result. Here are what we can do.

Apply pesticide. Pesticide comes in various form and strength. White, mealybugs can be removed by mechanical means (brushing and washing the plant with soap). Another option is using homemade/organic pesticide. This type of pesticide is less dangerous to the environment, but won’t last as long. It is recommended to rotate pesticides to avoid insects becoming resistant to them.
Have baits to distract pests. Honestly, I am not sure how effective this could be, but some hobbyists (for reasons) try to avoid killing pests if can. Instead, they put bait somewhere around to distract the pests from infesting their plants, such as placing a bowl of sugar to attract ant and distracting them from the fruit trees.
Putting your plant in a visible area and having a light source near by will deter some pests. Dragon fruit planted in an open area with a lot of sunlight will have less chance to be infested by mealybugs. Pests usually don’t like to be around where they can be observed easily.
Introduce predators and competitor species. This can be quite effective for organic farms and hobbyists. To introduce predators, we need to make the location suitable for their lives (i.e. pond for frogs, trees for birds and lizards). Besides adding more lives and interest in our lawn, predators are also voracious eaters; they will remove the pests and breed more as long as their prey around, so the number of the pests kept low. Insectivorous birds can eat a large number of insects.

5. It might look awkward, but you can try this method as well, that I felt scientific, weaver ants not only prey on caterpillars, but they also guard their area zealously, swarming and attacking other pests which comes close, they can be effective guardians for your plants, but in time of harvest, you need to find a way to remove them as well. Luckily, removing weaver ants’ nest is easier than removing other ants as their nests are visible in trees.

How long does it take to grow dragon fruit and deliver the first fruit

How to harvest dragon fruit plant

Use the sickle or hand to pick the fruits.

However, harvesting of dragon fruit is the most easiest job. Moreover, you need fair amount of labours to perform it, if you have dragon fruit farm on a large scale. You should use the sickle as priority, and can also pick the fruits by hands.

Harvesting of dragon fruit- As if, we all know that dragon fruit farming is a labour cost farming because it usually demands good amount of labour and so is for harvesting as well, if one is having the export business of dragon fruit then it becomes more vital to have fair labour.

These plants starts bearing fruits in the first year. Generally, these plant start flowering in May to June month and bear fruits from Aug to Dec months.

When to harvest dragon fruit

Dragon fruit becomes ready for harvesting after one month of flowering. Fruiting time continues till December. Picking up these fruits can be done up to six times within this period.

The fruit harvesting stage is very simple as immature fruit colour is bright green and will turn into a red colour once it is ripened. The exact time for harvesting is 3 to 4 days of colour change. But while exporting, they should be harvested one day after the colour change. Use the sickle or hand to pick the fruits.

Organizations supporting dragon fruit farming in India/World

For more details on- DRAGON FRUIT FARMING -watch this excellent video

Is dragon fruit farming profitable

How to make ten million in one month from dragon fruit farming

Yes it is possible to earn Ten lakh/millions in a month from dragon fruit farming.

Look at the stats given below-

It’s a considerable number to even think about it, and straight away, a question falls in our mind, is it possible to earn millions from fruit farming! Don’t worry. I will answer with a calculation and prove how to earn ten million per acre from dragon fruit farming.

Lets dive in

When it comes to profit, the income from 1- acre dragon fruit is around ten lakhs, after taking out the cost, you can get a net profit up to five lakhs, per acre. The amount of five lakh which you invested in one acre land is one time investment for twenty years because the life of dragon fruit is at least 20 years.

One can get fruit from just eight months old dragon fruit plant, and after sixteen months, it can produce 6.5 ton per acre. It will increase day by day after two years it will produce at-least 10 to 12 ton of dragon fruits per/acre. Let us do a quick math here.

However, the average price of red pulp dragon fruit is 150–200 Rs/kg, for example if someone is producing around ten-ton fruits in one acre of land and selling it in just 100 Rs/kg then also he is earning 10 lakh in one year, still can’t understand look at the formula-

1 ton = 1016 kg — -> 10 ton (10x1016) will be = 10160 kg

If selling price is 100 Rs per/kg — -> 100 x 10160 = 10,16,000 — RsTen lakh, sixteen thousand/

I guess, I have made you understand. I have given just an example you can calculate it by putting the actual value of the fruit which is around 150–200 Rs/kg in C type variety. Don’t forget to reduce your investment of Rs 5 to 6 lakh, but the specialty of dragon fruit i.e, it is just one time investment and will give more benefits after increasing years.

Is dragon fruit cultivation in India

How to cultivate dragon fruit in India/Can we grow dragon fruit in India

Yes, there is an excellent scope in dragon fruit cultivation in India, the cultivation of dragon fruit is gaining popularity day by day especially in the south region including Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil-Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Orrisa, West-Bengal, Andhra-Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

We can’t see much growth in the north region of India compared to the south region. However, this fruit plant survives in poor soil conditions and temperature variations. But the tropical climate region is best for its cultivation — the tropical monsoon climate. A tropical monsoon climate is the type of climate found in the southern and central area.

Karnataka is fast emerging as the country’s leader in dragon fruit cultivation, spread over 1000 acres in the state. Dragon fruit farming in Karnataka becoming the hottest industry in India.

Not only that, the State has become a knowledge bank for the cultivation of exotic fruit as scientist of the Hessarghatta- based Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) are supporting its cultivation in different parts of the country through technical counselling.

I am not saying that dragon fruit cannot be grown in a region like Nepal and Uttarakhand instead of that dragon fruit farming in Nepal is on the growing scale, but dragon fruit farming in Uttarakhand is way back. Dragon fruit farming Gujarat is scaling day by day.

A detailed guide of dragon fruit farming/cultivation Worldwide

If we deeply analyze the fruit farming areas, we could find all the warm and humid locations. It doesn’t mean that pitaya fruit cannot be grown in colder areas, but I am saying that the atmosphere required for dragon fruit to grow naturally is warm and humid. Dragon fruit is an exotic cactus

Let me make it more transparent, so look at the cultivation of dragon fruit in different world areas.

Dragon fruit farm

Dragon fruit farming in Vietnam, dragon fruit farming in Florida, dragon fruit farming in California, Cebu, Malaysia, Australia, Philippines, dragon fruit farming in Brazil, Kenya, dragon fruit farm Florida, dragon fruit farming in Nepal, dragon fruit cultivation in Nicaragua, dragon fruit cultivation in Taiwan, dragon fruit farming in Srilanka, dragon fruit farm Thailand.

Vietnam is Asia’s top producer, primarily growing fruit with bright pink skin and white flesh; other Asian countries cultivating the fruit include Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand. Nicaragua and Ecuador both grow significant amounts of a pink-skinned dragon fruit species deep to light pink flesh. Ecuador also grows a yellow-skinned variety with white flesh, which is also cultivated in Colombia. Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala are also seasonal producers.

While talking about India; of course dragon fruit is not an Indian fruit but India has started scaling the dragon fruit cultivation, here I can share few of them with you, it is mostly grown in warm states and cities like dragon fruit farming in Karnataka, dragon fruit farming in Kerala, dragon fruit farming in Gujarat, dragon fruit farming in Madhya Pradesh, dragon fruit farming in up, dragon fruit farming in Kutch, dragon fruit farming in Maharashtra, dragon fruit farming in Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

You can clearly see not all but most regions where dragon fruit cultivation is growing on a good scale, are mostly warm places.

IIHR, Bangalore — Known for dragon fruit research.

When I searched the dragon fruit farm near me, I hardly got any dragon fruit farming in Uttarakhand.

Pitahaya fruit date back to the 13th century.

Vietnam is the place where dragon fruit is extensively grown; India also imports dragon fruit on a large scale from Vietnam. There are more than 150 varieties of dragon fruit.

Vietnam does ninety percent of world dragon fruit export. I want to tell you that Vietnam is famous for commercial farming of dragon fruit, and SOFRI is an institute in Vietnam, famous for dragon fruit farming training.

SOFRI- Southern Horticulture Research Institute- One can apply for the training of dragon fruit farming in SOFRI.

Vietnams economy run’s via thirty five thousand crores by dragon fruit business. It’s a vast number to change any country’s economy by a single crop farming, and it so far Vietnam.

Which land is suitable for dragon fruit

Although it is soil friendly, but best soils suits are sandy loam to clay loam

Dragon fruit is related to a cactus family, so it does not require more water, too much of sunlight is not good for its cultivation, in high sunlight area shading can be provided for better yield. Hence it can grow more comfortably in plane areas in comparison to the hill and high altitude areas.

If we deeply analyze the fruit farming areas, we could find all the warm and humid locations. It doesn’t mean that pitaya fruit cannot be grown in colder areas.

This fruit can be grown on a wide range of soils from sandy loam to clay loam. However, sandy soils with good organic matter and internal drainage are best for its cultivation. Soil pH of 5.5 to 7 is best for Dragon fruit cultivation. Dragon fruit loves well-draining soil. One can also make soil by mixing in half perlite and half peat or add a little bit of sand into the soil. The good news is that dragon fruit is very tolerant of poor soil, and even cactus oil will work well. Because it’s a subtropical plant, dragon fruit loves warm weather and partial sun.

What is the size of the dragon fruit’s flower

Dragon fruit flowers are some of the most unique and strange looking flowers globally, not to mention some of the biggest! They can reach the diameter of upto 25 cm and are about 30 cm in length. Dragon fruit flowers only open up for one night and give off a beautiful exotic and fruity scent.

Originally published at https://signuptrendingnature.com on January 17, 2021.