RAJAHMUNDRY: A farmer in Chebrolu under Gollaprolu mandal in Kakinada district is cultivating fruits worth Rs 1 lakh each.
Oduri Nageswara Rao is growing the Miyazaki mango, considered one of the most expensive fruits in the world. The variety is rich in a number of antioxidants, beta-carotene and folic acid. The Miyazaki mango is also believed to prevent cancer, heat stroke, boost immunity and is beneficial for the skin. All this comes at a price: one kilogram of the fruit costs 2.70 lakh.
Nageswara Rao cultivates around a 100 rare fruit varieties from countries like Japan, Thailand and South Africa. The fruits are grown on a land parcel of four acres but they are not for sale. The farmer shares the yield with his relatives, acquaintances and VIPs free of cost.
Speaking to TOI, Nageswara Rao said he had been passionate about cultivating fruits since his childhood but only took to growing them in the last four years. He spent 9 lakh to procure the varieties through Kadiyam Nurseries and added, "the plants need to be taken care of like children." Of the 20 Miyazaki mango plants on his land, one yielded one fruit, weighing 360 grams. Fruits such as strawberry guava, banana mango, blue mango, apple mango, white jamun, black jamun, seedless mango, banana sapota, seedless black pump and white pump are also grown here.
Nageswara Rao's son, Oduri Kishore, a software engineer, said he supports his father in the cultivation of exotic plants, countering claims that growing the plants without expecting profit is a waste of resources. "My father's passion towards the plants are my source of motivation," Oduri Kishore said.
