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Anantapur custard apple belt Photo: Ram kumar · Pexels License · source ↗

Anantapur custard apple belt

Custard apple (Annona squamosa; sitaphalam) is a defining drought-hardy fruit crop of the Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts of Andhra Pradesh and the adjoining Karnataka border tracts. The crop is harvested largely from semi-cultivated hill slopes and from planted orchards on light red soils, and is a major monsoon-season earnings source for tribal and small-farmer households across the belt.

The belt

Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, parts of YSR Kadapa and the Chitradurga-Pavagada side of Karnataka form a contiguous custard apple zone. Within Anantapur, the belt is concentrated around the hill ranges near Kadiri, Hindupur, Penukonda and Madakasira; the same dryland districts dominate groundnut cultivation (Groundnut Crop, Kadiri 6 Groundnut, Kadiri Lepakshi 1812). Rainfall is 500-650 mm, mostly south-west monsoon (June-September), and the fruit ripens August through October-November.

Production systems

Two broad systems coexist. Semi-wild collection: naturally regenerating Annona squamosa on rocky hill slopes is harvested by tribal and small-farmer households and aggregated by village traders. Yields per tree are low, but operating costs are negligible. Planted orchards: improved cultivars such as Balanagar (Custard Apple Sitaphal Balanagar) are planted at 5 x 5 m on private land, with light irrigation in the establishment years; yield rises to 50-80 fruits per mature tree.

Market structure

Fruits are highly perishable and ripen rapidly once soft, so most produce moves from the field to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune wholesale markets within 24-48 hours. Direct contract supply to ice-cream and pulp processors is an expanding segment, with Pune-based and Hyderabad-based processors sourcing from this belt. Mealybug (Mealybug Orchard Pest) infestation at the calyx is a recurring grade-loss issue in the consignments.

Role in the dryland economy

Custard apple is one of the few fruit crops that grows reliably on the shallow, gravelly red soils of Anantapur without supplemental irrigation, and that ripens during the post-monsoon distress period when groundnut harvest cashflow is constrained. Together with tamarind (Tamarind Orchard), it forms part of the traditional dryland horticulture portfolio of the belt.

See also: Custard Apple Sitaphal Balanagar, Kadiri 6 Groundnut, Tamarind Orchard.

Sources

  1. Custard apple cultivation in Anantapur. KVK Anantapuramu.
  2. Custard apple area-production statistics. National Horticulture Board.