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From drought to opportunity: A farmer's pivot
Ashoka Shivareddy grew up in Kolar, a drought-stricken district in southern India where annual rainfall barely reaches 70 centimetres. His family spent most of their income drilling borewells up to 1,300 feet deep in search of water, only to abandon farming in 2005 after mounting losses. They relocated to Bengaluru and opened a vegetable shop, but Shivareddy-who later became an AI software engineer-never lost his connection to the land.
A scientific approach to farming
In 2018, Shivareddy decided to revive his family's farm using a data-driven strategy. He sought a crop that could thrive with minimal water, rely on rainfall, and require few pesticides. Custard apples, a knobbly fruit the size of a large avocado with creamy, sweet flesh, emerged as the ideal choice. The trees grew wild in his region, and locals already harvested and sold the fruit, signaling market potential.
To maximize yield, Shivareddy planted trees closer together than conventional farms and selected three varieties, each offering distinct advantages. The results were promising: his harvest grew from 20 tonnes last year to 25 tonnes this year. "There's huge demand for custard apples in India and abroad," he said.
Overcoming challenges with hybrid varieties
While custard apples are resilient in dry conditions, traditional varieties like Balangar pose challenges. They spoil within three to four days and contain numerous seeds, reducing their appeal to consumers. "Traditional varieties have excellent flavour but suffer from low pulp content, high seed count, and poor shelf life," explained Dr. Sakthivel T, principal scientist at the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) in Bangalore.
His team developed Arka Sahan, a hybrid that lasts a week at room temperature, contains fewer seeds, and yields 70% pulp-double the recovery rate of wild varieties. Over the past two decades, this hybrid has spread across southern India. Researchers are now exploring better processing methods to prevent the pulp from browning quickly after extraction, aiming to expand its use in products like ice cream and milkshakes.
Innovation drives export growth
Maharashtra, India's leading custard apple producer, accounts for nearly a third of the national output. Farmer Navnath Malhari Kaspate spent decades cross-pollinating seeds collected from across India, resulting in the high-yielding NMK-01 variety, released in 2014. "It takes 12 to 15 years to develop a new variety. This isn't quick work-it's decades of experimentation," he said.
Kaspate now cultivates custard apples on 50 acres, yielding about 10 tonnes per acre. The improved variety's durability has opened export opportunities, including shipments to Gulf countries and Europe. Exporter Manoj Kumar Barai prefers NMK-01 for its thicker skin, sweeter taste, and longer shelf life. However, transporting the delicate fruit requires meticulous planning, including overnight road journeys to avoid heat, pre-cooling, and refrigerated storage.
"Custard apple is highly sensitive to heat, and even short exposure can reduce its shelf life. Temperatures during transit can reach 30-35 degrees, which isn't ideal."
Manoj Kumar Barai, exporter
To mitigate spoilage, the fruit is pre-cooled for five hours, packed in specialized corrugated boxes, and transported in refrigerated vans before air freight. Pulp and powder exports are also rising, offering a cost-effective alternative to air freight and reducing waste.
The future of custard apple farming
Back in Kolar, Shivareddy plans to expand by selling pulp alongside whole apples. He aims to set up a processing unit to utilize unsold fruit, though the required investment in chilling equipment poses a hurdle. "Custard apple sits in a strange gap," he noted. "Demand is rising, but farming hasn't gone high-tech because the crop is naturally hardy-it grows in poor soil, needs little water, and survives on rainfall. Farmers don't need expensive irrigation or sensors, so tech adoption remains low."
As researchers and farmers continue innovating, custard apples are emerging as a sustainable solution for drought-prone regions, bridging tradition and modern agriculture.
