3 weeks ago
Jackfruit King Meets PM Modi at Wedding Reception in Delhi
A farmer from a small village in India got to meet the Prime Minister at a wedding party in Delhi.
People now call him the 'Jackfruit King'.
Jackfruit is a huge, spiky fruit that India grows more of than any other country.
Every year India grows more than a million tonnes of it.
But for a long time, much of that fruit was wasted because there were not enough ways to sell it or turn it into other products.
The farmer studied to be an agricultural engineer, which teaches people about farming and food science.
He spent more than ten years working to make jackfruit useful, making things like flour, seeds and even items such as leather bags from it.
His father sold jackfruit by the roadside for just a few paise, when people thought jackfruit was not as good as mango.
At the wedding, the farmer showed the Prime Minister his work on a phone and gave him some papers.
He hopes the meeting will help his jackfruit work grow and succeed.
A clip from Revati Sule's wedding reception in Delhi shows PM Narendra Modi meeting the farmer known as Konkan's 'Jackfruit King'.
The farmer, Desai of Jhapade village in Lanja taluka, Ratnagiri district, showed the PM his work on a phone and handed over documents.
India is the world's largest jackfruit producer, harvesting more than a million tonnes a year.
A large share of India's jackfruit has traditionally gone to waste for want of processing and a market.
Desai, a trained agricultural engineer, has spent over a decade building a jackfruit processing business, following his father who sold jackfruit by the roadside at a few paise a kilo.
- Who
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the farmer Desai, known as Konkan's 'Jackfruit King', who met at the wedding reception of Revati Sule, daughter of Baramati MP Supriya Sule.
- What
- Desai showed PM Modi his jackfruit work on a phone and handed over documents, drawing attention to his decade-long effort to build processing and markets for jackfruit.
- Where
- At Revati Sule's wedding reception in Delhi; Desai is from Jhapade village, Lanja taluka, Ratnagiri district.
- When
- This week, during the wedding reception in Delhi.
- Why
- To spotlight jackfruit's potential and Desai's efforts to reduce the large share of India's jackfruit harvest that goes to waste for want of processing and a market.
Key facts
- Main figures
- PM Narendra Modi; farmer Desai ('Jackfruit King')
- Event
- Wedding reception of Revati Sule, daughter of Baramati MP Supriya Sule
- Location
- Delhi
- Farmer's origin
- Jhapade village, Lanja taluka, Ratnagiri district
- Farmer's background
- Trained agricultural engineer
- India's jackfruit output
- World's largest producer; over a million tonnes a year
- Decade of work
- Over a decade building jackfruit processing (flour, seeds, leather products)
- Family context
- Father sold jackfruit by the roadside for a few paise a kilo
Sources
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