Detail:

Raja bhai observed that nearly all fruit trees like guava, mangoes, chikku etc. are susceptible to attack by pests, or animals while lemon trees face no such a problem, so the thought of growing lemon trees struck him. He was also convinced about its constant use in the kitchen and its ever increasing demand. He thought it to be an economically viable proposition. He wanted to buy the best lemon grafts, however could not afford to purchase them. In 1992, he had gone to the vegetable market at Junagadh. He noticed some lemons which were rotting which the shop keeper was willing to sell at a very low price so he purchased about twenty kilogram of these lemons for Rs. 80/-. He extracted the juice from these lemons, and separated the seeds from the fruit. To remove the moisture from the seeds, he rubbed ash on them; this also segregated the seeds. He thereafter sowed these seeds in one row. Only sixty to seventy present of them germinated. He would look after the germinated seeds every day. When the plants were two and half months-old, he thought of growing them, however there were no rains therefore he postponed it. However, he would take out the weeds around the plants and spray water on them daily. One day, as he was farming, he noticed a different kind of lemon plant. He noticed that the leaves of this plant were larger than those of the rest and that its leaves were a darker shade of green. In addition, the branches of this plant had no thorns. Raja bhai immediately realized that this plant was different and useful for future experimentation and cultivation. Due to a shortage of water, he could not cultivate the remaining plants but he selected this variety. As the soil was dry, he took out the plant (of the selected variety) from the soil, along with the mud. He dug a hole of one cubic foot. He put the plant in along with 500 gm. of cow dung. He looked after the tree for five years till it started bearing fruits. He was surprised once more that the branch bore seven to eight bunches of lemons. He took extra care by giving the necessary inputs i.e. cow dung, water etc. As a result, in the first year, he could obtain five kilograms of lemons from the tree which he sold at Rs.20 per kg. When he cut the first lemon he realized it was seedless and also undamaged. This made him consider growing more lemon trees of such a variety. However, as there were no seeds, the only alternative was to graft it with the ordinary lemon plant\tree. In 1998, he prepared twenty successful grafts with the mother plant. When they proved to be successful, he made another hundred such grafts, which he planted on his land. At present, he has a hundred trees which yield fruit, which he uses to prepare grafts which he sells at Rs.60 per graft. Advantages: • The branches of this variety have no thorns. • The leaves are large. • The fruits are seedless and juicy. • The fruits are in bunches of seven to eight. • The fruits are large and uniform. • The skin of the fruit is very thin. • The stalk of the fruit is sturdy, therefore does not break easily. • Production of fruit takes a short time. • Growth of the tree is fast. • There is continuous fruit production throughout the year. • Fruits can be plucked from the trees easily. • The labour costs are much less. • They sell easily in the market and fetch at least 20 % more. • They do not rot that easily

Knowledge Provider / Innovator: Rajabhai Harkhani
Address: Mandwa Bhasan Junagadh
City: Junagadh
State: Gujarat
PIN Code 362030

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