Abstract

The importance of fruit as an integral part of our daily food has been of late increasingly recognised for their rich vitamin content and their therapeutic and prophylactic properties. The researches of Col. McCarrison and Dr. Akroyd, have proved the notoriously poor quality of the average South Indian diet and roused us from our apathy towards the dangers of malnutrition. These nutrition experts have recom mended eating of more fruits as a panacea for all the prevailing deficiency diseases. The Government are alive to the demands of the situation and have started a campaign of "Grow more fruits". Attempts in this direction consist, not only in exploring the possibilities of fruit cultivation in the plains wherever facilities exist, but also in helping the fruit industry in places where it is in a nascent condition, or in a languishing state. The fruit grow- ing area in and around Kadayam in the Tirunelveli District comes under the last category. With a view to suggest measures to resuscitate the industry to a profitable level, a preliminery survey of the tract was done in January 1939. This paper deals with the study of the present fruit growing condi tions in this region and the possible lines of improvement.

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