Bhavnagar district likely to produce 50K mt lemon

Bhanvagar district is expecting more than 50,000 metric tonnes production of lemons this season from cultivated area of 5,000 hectors mainly within villages falling in 5 taluka destinations of Bhavnagar District, P D Rathod, deputy director horticulture, Bhavnagar, said.

Unlike this year, in 2003-04, Bhavnagar district had registered production of 40,832 mt of lemons from cultivation across 3,520 hectors, followed by production of 50,432 mt of lemons from cultivation across 4,320 hectors, said Rathod.

Apart from Bhavnagar, lemons are also cultivated in Surendranagar and Rajkot district in Saurashtra-Kutch region, where cultivation was registered across 800 and 245 hectors with production of 10,000 mt and 1,506 mt, respectively, in the financial year 2003-2004, an official from Horticulture department of Surendranagar and Rajkot District Agriculture office sad.

Farmers of villages in Aambla, Ursad, Vadavad, Shedhavadar, Fariyaadkaa, Sodvadra, Vadukad, Lakhanka, Vartej, Kadrej, Kamrej, Bhadi, Bhandariya, Paanvi and Naari located in Shihor, Ghogha, Palitana, Umrala and Bhavnagar talukas, are mainly engaged in cultivation of lemons in this belt of Bhavnagar district, "from this villages daily 2-3 truck-load of lemons are transported mainly to Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Rajkot and Mumbai," said Mansukh Ajmera, commission agent from Bhavnagar Marketing Yard.

Apart from demand propping in domestic circuit for lemons cultivated in Bhavnagar district, these lemons are exported mainly to the Gulf, Middle East and African countries, as the pulp of the lemons cultivated here is comparatively more nutritious and has better citrus taste, than the lemons cultivated in other parts of the country, Ajmera added.

However, farmers in this region are worried due to increasing salinity in the soil and fear that if appropriate actions are not taken in this direction, there are possible chances, that lemons grown in Bhavnagar district will become a thing of the past.

"Initially we used to harvest 140-160 kilograms of lemons from one single tree during the whole season, but now a days we are able to harvest hardly 60-100 kilograms of lemons from one single tree during the whole season," said Maganbhai Malabhai, farmer from Kamrej village.