Shortage of irrigation water in Sindh province has prompted many farmers to grow value-added crops and orchards that require less water. Ber (jujube) is one which grows in all types of soils and uses less water. It can withstand drought and water-logging.
Ber has been around for more than 100 years. It has many varieties like soofi, kheerol (chambeli), sanghri and gola. Gola is most popular and is of two kinds, the green (leemai) and the golden (white). White gola is harvested earlier. Previously, ber harvest lasted for only one month (March), but with the introduction of new varieties it now starts from mid December and continues till early April.
The main source of ber seedlings is in Tando Kaiser. Many growers depend upon service providers who conduct layout work and bring seedlings and plants on farms. The seedlings are planted at 25ft spacing that comes to about 65 plants per acre. Many farmers buy grafted seedlings for plantations, which in few years become shrub. The grafted seeding trunk (stem) do not have enough strength to bear the weight of the fruit. If a non-grafted seedling is planted and is grafted after two years, the plant grows to become a tree yielding 200 to 400kg fruit, depending upon the management.
Ber trees are pruned after harvest and give plenty of firewood for household, and foliage for livestock. Another advantage of having ber orchard is that the farmer can grow (kharif crop which is usually cash crop like cotton etc.
The insect pest attack is of leaf roller in the month of May and hairy caterpillar and fruit-fly in October.
They are controlled by various pesticides. It has more vitamin C than citrus. It sells well in the domestic market and is also exported in large quantities to the Middle East. Its export potential has not yet been realized. In the outside world it is known as jujube. In California it sells as an exotic fruit. The US Department of Agriculture report says that a shipment of plums mistakenly went to China. It was sold like hot cake. People in China thought it was jujube or ber.
In China, people buy jujube (ber) for good luck. There is a big market for ber in China. The EPB can keep this in mind when sending delegations for exploring fruit business in the outside world.
Another business opportunity lies in the production of ber juice. Nowhere in the world there is ber (jujube) juice available. Ber promises to be the future fruit of Sindh. It is being planted over thousands of acres in lower Sindh area.