The avocado's Karnataka connection

 The high-yielding Hass avocado.

Avocado is one of the few fruits rich in fats. But it mainly has 'good' fats, with zero cholesterol.

These nutritional benefits, confirmed by doctors and nutritionists the world over, are just some reasons for the rise in the avocado's popularity. In fact, the fruit is now so popular that there is a huge imbalance between demand and supply.

Just glancing through the avocado's history in India, the significant but unrecognised efforts of one person, the late B S Nirody, stand out.

In pre-independent India, there was a severe dearth of scientific knowledge about fruits like avocado.

Nirody wrote a book Half Hour with a Modern Alchemist which won him a scholarship to study abroad at Amherst College in Massachusetts, USA.

As a student abroad, he decided to study avocados.

In his book Flower Gardening in South India, Nirody mentions coming across the phrase 'dollar a slice' fruit.

Intrigued by this phrase, Nirody conducted research to lengthen the avocado season by planting the fruits based on the length of their flowering.

These findings were published as Investigations in Avocado Breeding by the University of Massachussets, where Nirody highlighted two varieties of the fruit, the Trapp and Linda by saying "The early maturing quality of the Trapp would be counterbalanced by the late habit of the Linda."

Nirody's work on the avocados helped him earn his post graduate degree. His work was even recognised when the 'Nirody Avocado' was named after him.

But who was Nirody?

Bhavani Shankar Rao Nirody was from a Konkani-speaking family in Kundapur. His quest for knowledge took him to Udupi, where he completed his matriculation and then went on to study further in Madras.

Nirody was fascinated by plants. His interest in exotic plants then led to his fascination with the avocado. After his return from the USA, Nirody worked as a Kannada-English translator and devoted all his spare time to the study of plants. He also took over the nursery of the Indian Institute of Science and conducted plant breeding research on the campus.

Over the years, doyens of horticulture like John Cameron, G H Krumbiegel, H C Javarajaya and M H Marigowda have worked in Karnataka, but the avocado remained a minor fruit until a decade ago.

And for the longest time, the seedlings were only grown within the premises of families living in the cantonment area of Bengaluru or within houses in extensions of Malleshwaram and Basavanagudi in Bengaluru city.

But of late, Karnataka is seeing a real interest from farmers in the cultivation of the fruit. Many of them are looking to cultivate the fruit as part of block plantations, border plantations and as an inter-crop.

N C Patel has been growing seedling avocados since the past 30 years. Now, he is attracted to grafts, especially the Hass variety, which yields fruits after just 3 years.

"Looking at the demand as well as its adaptability to the south Karnataka districts, the avocado has a bright future," Patel says.