Now that you know a bit of these lesser known fruits, you must be wondering why they were not well commercialized in India despite of the potential they had. The reason why commercialization of these fruits has not happened on a large scale yet is simply because not many people are aware of the health benefits and business potential of these fruits. Entrepreneurs also shy away because the market for such fruits is unorganized and needs to be established properly. A triangular system should be in place, where farmers, researchers and entrepreneurs can work together to cultivate the fruits, develop the production technology, process and package the fruits, and monitor the supply chain. The market for fruits like apples and bananas is already saturated. In case of these underutilized fruits there are no existing players to compete with, so there are chances of monopoly that so ever enter the market at this stage. In the case of fruits like apples and bananas, simply exporting them gets you a profit margin of up to 40%. Whereas once these fruits are processed, profits start pouring in heavily.

Heavy investment has to be made in researching and developing favorable methods for developing the processes and products to commercially produce these fruits. Jamun, mahua, khirnee, karonda, tamarind, wood apple and chironji for example, require a subtropical climate. Fruits like avocado, durian, garcinia, macadamia nut, mangosteen, passion fruit, longan and rambutan, however, require a tropical climate for quality fruit production. If you are already into the business of fruits, there is not even a need to replace the existing fruit crops, as these fruits can also be a supplement to what is already growing. For starters, however, there is around 175 million hectare of area that is degraded and this vast wasteland can be used to grow these fruits.

Depending on where a particular fruit can be grown, there are several horticulture institutes across the country that can not only give you advice on growing these fruits, but also provide you with fruit seeds for germination.  Some of these institutes have standardized the best propagation techniques for most of these fruits so that the plants can multiply in number. Softwood grafting has been recommended for jamun, mahua, khirnee and wood apple, for instance.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research is already working on conducting farm trials to see how well these fruits can adapt to the new environment and how much they yield, which can save a lot of time, effort and money. Challenges come in while convincing farmers to cultivate these fruits in the first place. As these fruits are not being cultivated for commercial purposes, the entrepreneur has to gain the confidence of the farmer assuring him that the fruits will give returns. While the fruits are in their gestation period, which can take about three to five years, duo-farming can be done with vegetables, so that both the entrepreneur as well as the farmer do not have to wait long to get income. Other challenges include developing technology for the optimal extraction of vitamins and minerals from these fruits and converting them into end-products.