Chalakudy (Thrissur): The jackfruit market became active again in Chalakudy as the season commenced. Jackfruits is sent from here to North Indian states. Hundreds of jackfruits are loaded in the national permit lorries coming here every day.
The merchants said that jackfruit has huge demand in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Earlier, jackfruit was sent to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The market was dull last year due to Covid crisis. The farmers faced huge loss as the pandemic outbreak occurred in the beginning of the season last time.
The situation changed this year and the merchants hope to manage the losses. Jackfruits are collected at Chalakudy through agents. Tender raw jackfruits have huge demand in the market. However, ripe jackfruits also are sent in large numbers at the peak stage of the season.
Braided coconut fronds are spread in layers on lorries before loading jackfruits. Then banana leaves are placed in multiple layers along with ice cubes so that the jackfruits stay fresh till the load reach destination after several days.
