Kerala’s ‘jackfruit man’ saves 210 varieties, turns rubber estate into organic orchard

Jackfruit trees ask for little. Once rooted, they grow taller each year, throw wide shade, and keep feeding families for decades.

Long before packaged produce lined supermarket shelves, these trees stood in backyards and farms across India — giving us tender veggies when young and sweet fruit when ripe. That quiet resilience is what pulled in Thomas, a jackfruit conservationist from Kerala.

Worried by the rising use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, he started collecting rare jackfruit varieties and growing them organically. A former rubber plantation is now a living orchard with 210+ types of jackfruit, each with its own taste, texture and season.

Thomas believes the tree deserves more attention than it gets. And for home growers, the news is simple: you don’t need acres. With good care in the first few years, a single jackfruit tree can thrive in a backyard and keep giving fruit for generations.