Who Is Mithilesh Desai? ‘Jackfruit King Of India’ Seen Interacting With PM Modi At Supriya Sule’s Daughter’s Wedding Reception

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) MP Supriya Sule's daughter Revati Sule's wedding and reception were attended by a host of top political leaders of the country. Videos from the reception show leaders from various political parties.

One of the videos which has gone viral shows Sharad Pawar and Prime Minister Modi sitting next to each other, and a young man was seen standing and leaning towards PM Modi and talking to him while showing something from his mobile phone.

Prime Minister Modi can also be seen listening to him very attentively. The video triggered curiosity on social media regarding the identity of the young man.

The young man who interacted directly with Prime Minister Modi is Mithilesh Desai, a young farmer and entrepreneur from Maharashtra, known as the 'Jackfruit King of India'.

Who is Mithlesh Desai?

Mithilesh Desai is a resident of Jhapade village in Lanja taluka of Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district. He has done his B.Tech degree in Agricultural Engineering from Mahatma Phule Agricultural University (Rahuri).

Even after reaching the UPSC interview stage in 2016, Mithilesh chose not to pursue a government or corporate job. Instead, he joined hands with his father in growing jackfruits. By that time, Harish Chandra was already engaged in conducting marketing research activities

Pioneer of jackfruit plantation

He is known as the Pioneer of Jackfruit Plantation, with more than 86 varieties available globally. He is an entrepreneur with expertise in food processing of jackfruit, cashew nuts, mangos and a number of fruits-vegetables. He exports jackfruit leaves to Germany, where it finds use in cancer research.

Jackfruit King Agro Producer Company

Mithilesh founded Jackfruit King Agro Producer Company Limited in 2020. The company manufactures various products from jackfruit, such as vegan meat, burger patties, chips, diabetes-friendly powder and animal feed. About 25,000 grafted plants are sold from his nursery every year, and more than 900 farmers have been associated with him. Today, his company's annual turnover has reached around Rs 95 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

Family's journey began in 2010

In 2010, Mithilesh's father, Harish Chandra Desai, purchased land in Ratnagiri and initially collected and planted dozens of global jackfruit sapling varieties.