Chinese dragon fruit renamed 'kamalam' in Gujarat

Dragon fruit popular all over the world will now be known as Kamalam fruit in Gujarat after the state government decided the word dragon is not suitable for the fruit.

Gandhinagar: Gujarat government on Tuesday renamed the Chinese dragon fruit as 'Kamalam'.

According to the Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, the word dragon for the fruit sounded inappropriate and so the Gujarat government had decided the fruit be called 'Kamalam'.

While interacting with the media on Tuesday, he said that the government has applied for a patent to change the nomenclature of dragon fruit to 'Kamalam'.

"We have applied for the patent of the Dragon fruit to be called Kamalam. But as of now, the Gujarat government have decided to call the fruit as Kamalam." the CM said while announcing the launch of Horticulture Development Mission.

The CM added that "even though the fruit is known as dragon fruit, it doesn't sound appropriate. The word Kamalam is a Sanskrit word and the fruit does have the shape of the lotus, so we have decided to call it Kamalam, and there's nothing political about it."

The state government had proposed the name Kamalam to the Indian Agriculture Research.

The Gujarat Forest Department had submitted a proposal to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research to name the fruit 'Kamalam'. PM Narendra Modi too had a mention of this fruit in his radio program 'Mann Ki Baat' of 26 July 2020.

Dragon Fruit is also known as Pitaya and the scientific name of the dragon fruit is Hilocareus cactus. These fruits are more beneficial than oranges, mangoes, papayas and bananas.

Dragon Fruit is cultivated all across Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.