Hyderabad: Hybrid varieties of custard apples from adjoining states of Maharashtra and Karnataka have flooded the Hyderabad market. The traders are selling the fruit at a price of Rs 120 to Rs 150 per kilo.
Hyderabadis are used to the custard apples variety sold during the monsoon season that are naturally grown in the hilly locations in the thick forest of Siddipet, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Vikarabad districts.
“Fruits from Karnataka are sold in the market. There was a good harvest of crops,” said an official of the marketing department. The local production came down due to the real estate activity in districts surrounding Greater Hyderabad and cultivation of custard apples is not popular here.
Tribes living in the hilly areas of Shadnagar, Mahboobnagar, Kandukur, Nalgonda, Vikarabad and Siddipet district pluck the fruit from forest and bring it to the city. Usually local custard apples are available in the market only in July and August months.
In Karnataka, custard apples are grown in Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Bellary and Vijayapura districts, as well as other parts of North Karnataka. The region is suitable for the cultivation of custard apples, as the fruits flourish in the dry and hot climate. In Maharashtra it is grown in Beed, Aurangabad, Parbhani and Solapur districts.
Belonging to the Annonaceae family, the fruit has a light tan or greenish quilted-skin that turns brown as the fruit ripens.
