Talking to
Dr. Navanath Kaspate
T
ell us more about this new variety of custard apple. We have performed cross-pollination about 2 years back and we came up with a new variety. For this we had to analyse each custard apple variety because each variety has it’s own unique properties. The specialty about the variety we developed is
that: 1. It starts reaping yield after the local variety fruit gets over in the market. 2. It has lesser seeds and looks more attractive than the local variety 3. This variety doesn’t crack open like the local variety. It can stay on the plant for up to 15 days and we can harvest it anytime within these 15 days. The local variety doesn’t give you that much of time, it should be harvested within 2-3 days. Owing to this quality, the new variety can outlive transportation hassles and can be sold across the country. We had applied for a patent for this produce in 2014 and though it took a great deal of time, we have now finally received a patent for this product. Unfortunately, we now realize that getting product patents is not of much value in our country. These things are not valued like it is in many countries around the globe. How many varieties of custard apple do you cultivate? We have 42 varieties. I have planted a new batch of 2500 plants. Till date, the varieties I have come with can benefit farmers immensely. It has helped farmers to make profits in lakhs. There have been cases where people have made profits in crores. What is it that pushes up their profit margins? This variety’s characteristics itself! The local variety can fetch you about 5-6 tons of fruit during harvest, which gives you an approximate income of 1 Lakh. This new variety gives you an output of 12 I AGRICULTURE & INDUSTRY SURVEY I July 2020
Agriculturist Owing to low family income, education after Std 11 may have remained a dream for Dr Navanath Kaspate; but, that did not stop him from scaling great heights. Today, he has done some path breaking work in agriculture by developing new varieties of custard apples like the NMK-1 Golden. Developing a new variety is generally undertaken either by universities or institutions like the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research. But in case of Dr N M Kaspate, it was his experience and the passion of a grower and the perseverance of a plant breeder that fetched him the Doctorate Degree. Along the journey, education alone wasn’t the sole point of hurdle. “Initially we had shortage of water at our farm. Then, we dug out a bore well to sort the water issue. We started with three crops. I did grape farming till about 2011. We used to export grapes as well.” In the Solapur district, Dr Navanath was the first to acquire the patent certification. He was greatly appreciated and recognized for his farming and export activities. “We were farming custard apples quite well. In 2011, I got a new variety of custard apple. We gave it 10 years to see how it would do. It went well and we launched a new variety called NMK1 Golden after 10 years.”
