: Without Owning Land, Kerala Man Sets Up Jackfruit Villages With 20,000 Trees #IndiaNEWS #Environment Enough has been said about how the state of Kerala teems with jackfruit plants. But in this article,

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Without Owning Land, Kerala Man Sets Up Jackfruit Villages With 20,000 Trees #IndiaNEWS #Environment
Enough has been said about how the state of Kerala teems with jackfruit plants. But in this article, we dive into the story of one man who has planted about 20,000 of them, all alone.
KR Jayan, famously known as ‘Plavu Jayan’, has studded his hometown Irinjalakuda in Kerala’s Thrissur district with over 44 varieties of the fruit. These include Rudrakshi, Padavalam Varikka, Balloon Varikka, Kashumanga Chakka, Football Varikka, Vakatanaam Varikka, and more.
The attributive pet name was given to him in his school days. “As a child, I saw crushing poverty in my village. My family survived only on kathal (jackfruit) and had nothing else,� he says. This was the reason why he showed up at school with a jackfruit as a school project. Making fun of him, his peers named him ‘Plavu Jayan’, for plavu means jackfruit in his regional language.
This never deterred the young boy. On the contrary, he went on to use this attachment to the fruit to save its species from endangerment, by planting it across the land for 20 years. His efforts still continue.

A reason to begin
In this article, we have explored the myriad benefits of consuming jackfruit. Such are its powers, that today even flour extracted from it is being used to cure ailments. Recently, Kerala deemed kathal its natural fruit for this reason and many others.
The Jackfruit Plant | Source: Flickr
But Jayan says that about two decades ago, its availability was rapidly thinning in the state due to neglect. He loved the fruit, and couldn’t watch its existence fade. So he took it upon himself to conserve the fruit.
“I went from village to village trying to understand jackfruit trees better. People barely knew the names of different varieties, and no one was interested in the fact that each variety of jackfruit thrives in different soil,� he says.
Not a fan of the grafting method, Jayan would collect the seeds of each variety on the way, and come back to plant them in his village.
“I have been an autorickshaw driver by profession all these years, transporting retail goods like soaps, incense sticks and more for money. I would stop on my way every now and then and plant a tree on the roadside,� he adds. This was because Plavu Jayan had no land of his own, and the space adjacent to public roads was the only viable option to execute his mission.
In the beginning, he was called all sorts of names for his efforts. People who watched him going around watering seeds on the road called him demented. But some four years down the line, the strange plants started bearing fruit for consumption. Suddenly, Plavu Jayan’s work was reaping benefits for all.

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