Revitalizing minor fruit production: Strategies for crop improvement and value addition

Minor fruits hold great potential for value addition and processing into market lead products with high commercial value. Despite being underutilized in agriculture due to limited crop improvement efforts, lack of awareness and vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses, they offer significant opportunities for economic empowerment and environmental sustainability. Minor fruits like bael, bilimbi, jamun, aonla, phalsa, ber, kiwi, rambutan, longan, fig, tamarind, passion fruit, persimmon, karonda, khejri, carambola, chironji, pilu, wood apple, loquat, West Indian cherry, mahua, monkey jack, rose apple, red pear, sea buckthorn and durian have numerous health benefits both directly and indirectly. Through value-addition processes such as drying, canning and processing into value-added products, these fruits can be transformed into marketable commodities with an extended shelf life. Value addition enhances the income-generating capacity of small-scale farmers, thereby contributing to poverty alleviation and rural development. Promoting nutrition can be enhanced by proper water and nutrient management, genetic strategies and postharvest handling. Secondly, it explores the role of value addition in creating employment opportunities and fostering entrepreneurship particularly among marginalized communities. By encouraging sustainable agricultural practices such as organic farming and agroforestry, crop development and value-addition initiatives can mitigate environmental degradation and promote sustainable agriculture. This dual focus on economic empowerment and environmental sustainability underscores the potential of crop improvement in minor fruits as a catalyst for holistic rural development.