Lotao's sustainable cultivation of jackfruit in India

A trip as part of the KfW-funded project “Sustainable Sourcing of Jackfruit from India”
Berlin/Gollarahosalli, July 9, 2019. Tropical heat lies over the lush plantings of Ganesh KH's farmland near the small village of Gollarahosall in the state of Karnataka in southwest India. The qualified farmer grew up in this region and lives with his wife and two children in a small farmhouse that includes around five hectares of agricultural land.

Organic out of conviction:

This morning, Ganesh inspects the fruits of his jackfruit trees that grow in different parts of his farmland. The successive harvest of the unripe fruits has already been underway for several weeks. The ripening process usually begins from July to August and the final harvest phase begins. The ambitious organic farmer's jackfruit trees take up a total of around one hectare of land and produce up to 70 tons of fruit annually. Since Ganesh took part in the German development project “Sustainable Sourcing of Jackfruit from India”, he has been harvesting most of his fruits before they are ripe, because demand from Europe for the young jackfruit as a meat substitute is growing.

Jackfruit supports sustainable agriculture

As a qualified farmer, Ganesh began managing his farm organically 15 years ago and has been a certified organic farmer for 10 years. “In addition to the cost savings, I was motivated to switch from conventional agriculture to organic farming by the environmental and health-friendly aspects,” explains Ganesh. Above all, he wants to preserve and expand the biodiversity on his farmland through pesticide-free farming and sustainable irrigation. Like most organic farmers in his region, he primarily grows jackfruit, betel nut palms, coconut, pepper, moringa, turmeric, rice, field mint, ginger, vanilla and cinnamon organically.
As part of the project, he is now planning to integrate more jackfruit trees into his cultivation concept, because in addition to the rich harvest and additional profit, the jackfruit tree offers compost and fertilizer for the arable soil due to its size and the wealth of surplus harvest components from the lush, rich foliage Food for the animals that he keeps primarily for his family's own needs. The robust trees also offer optimal protection from wind from heavy rain for the smaller, more sensitive plants. Ganesh is pleased about the high demand: “In the past, the majority of jackfruit fruits rotted in the field because hardly anyone was interested in the fruit.” In fact, up to 80 percent of the entire jackfruit harvest is in Ganesh's region before the project ended up in the trash, now it's only 2 to 3 percent.

About LPP Lotao Pack- und Produktions GmbH
LPP Lotao Pack- und Produktions GmbH, based in Berlin, was founded as Lotao GmbH in 2011 by Stefan Fak. The company is dedicated to exquisite Asian specialties, primarily in organic quality, and sells them on the European delicatessen and organic market. In addition to the “Lotao Deli” rice line, the extraordinary range also includes products made from coconut or sugar. With the jackfruit-based “Lotao Green” product range, Lotao is now conquering the market for meat substitute products. Further information at www.lotao.com .
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Lotao Press Office
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Nicola Vieritz
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Contact Lotao:
LPP Lotao Pack and Production GmbH
Stefan Fak
Bernhard-Lichtenberg-Strasse 10
10407 Berlin
Email: stefan.fak@lotao.de
www.lotao.com