LEMON

Citrus is an important fruit crop. Lemon is one of the important category. It is mainly known for its pulp and juice throughout the world. Different citrus fruits are used throughout the world as food or juice. In central India, Nagpur santra is grown on a large scale. Mandarin Production states are Assam, Dibrugarh and Brahmaputra valley. In India Citrus cultivation is done on an area of about 923 thousand hectare. With annual production of 8608 thousand metric tons. In Punjab citrus is grown on 39.20 hectares of land.

Lemons can grow in all types of soils. Light Soils having good drainage are suitable for its cultivation. PH range of soil should be 5.5-7.5. They can also grow in slightly alkaline and acidic soils. Light loam well drained soils are best for Lemon cultivation.

Lucknow seedless: Fruits are of medium size with yellow color.

Pant Lemon: It is selection from kagzi kalan. Dwarf variety having medium size juicy fruits. It is resistant to scab, canker and gummosis. 

Lisbon lemon: It is resistant to frost and high wind velocity. Fruit are of medium size, having lemon yellow color with smooth surface.

Galgal: Suitable for low hills, large sized fruits, egg shaped, yellow when ripens, hard variety which is tolerant to cold and heat, good yield, suitable for making pickle, squash and candy, matures in December month.  
 
Eureka: Semi-vigorous tree. Lemon-yellow skin color, juice is strongly acidic having excellent flavor. Fruit ripens in the end-August month.

Villa Franca: Spreading and erect variety with thorny oval to oblong fruits. Fruits are medium to large size.

Assam lemon: Spreading type variety. Oblong shape, Lemon color variety. Seeds are few.

Other States Varieties

Punjab Baramasi: Shoots dropping are usually ground touching. It has yellow fruits, round shaped with tapering base. Fruits are seedless and juicy in nature. The average fruit yield is 84 kg per tree.

Rasraj: Developed by IIHR. Yellow colored fruits content 70% juice and 12 seeds. Its acidity is 6% and TSS content is about 8 brix. It is resistant to bacterial blight and canker disease.

Meyer Lemon: Semi dwarf variety with light color fruits.
 

Land should be ploughed, cross ploughed and leveled properly. Planting is done on terraces against slopes in hilly areas. High density planting is also possible in such areas.

Time of sowing
The best season for planting is July-August.

Intercropping: Intercropping with Cow peas, Vegetables, French beans can be done in initial two to three years.

Spacing
Spacing between plants should be kept between 4.5×4.5. Pits of size 60×60×60cm should be dug for planting seedlings. 10Kg of Farmyard Manure and 500g of Single superphosphate should be applied to pits while planting.

Sowing Depth
Pits of size 60×60×60cm should be dug for planting seedlings.

Method Of Sowing
Propagation
Plants are propagated by budding or Air layering.

For proper growth of trunk of plant, Shoots in 50-60cm near ground level should be removed. Centre of plant should remain open. Water suckers should be removed at early stages of growth.

Fertilizer Requirement (gm/tree)

Nutrient Requirement (gm/tree)

When age of crop is 1-3 year, apply well decomposed cow dung@ 5-20 kg per Tree and Urea@ 100-300 gram per Tree. For 4-6 year old crop, apply well decomposed cow dung@ 25-50 kg and Urea@ 100-300 gram per Tree. For 7-9 year old crop, apply Urea@ 600-800 gram per tree and well decomposed cow dung@ 60-90 kg per Tree. When crop is 10 year old or above, apply cowdung@100 kg or Urea@ 800-1600 gram per tree.

Apply whole amount of cow dung during December month whereas apply Urea in two parts; apply first of Urea in February, and second dose in April-May month. At time of applying first dose of Urea, apply whole dose of SSP fertilizer. 

If fruit drop is observed, to control excessive fruit drop, take spray of 2,4-D@10 gram horticulture grade in 500Ltr of water. Take first spray in March end, then in April end. Repeat the spray in August and September end. If cotton is planted in nearby field of citrus, avoid spraying of 2,4-D, instead take spray of GA3. 
 

Lemon requires irrigation at regular intervals. Life saving irrigation should be given in winters and summers. Irrigation is necessary for Flowering, Fruiting and proper plant growth. Over irrigation may also leads to diseases like Root rot and collar rot. High frequency irrigation is beneficial. Salty water is injurious for crop plants. Partial drying out of soil in spring may not affect plants.

• Pest and their control:
  

Citrus Psylla: These are Juice sucking pests. Damage is mainly caused by Nymphs. It injects a plant toxin liquid which burns foliage and skin of fruit. Leaves curl and fall off prematurely. It can be controlled by pruning of diseased plants, burning them. Spraying of Monocrotophos-0.025% or carbaryl- 0.1% can also be helpful.

Scale Insects: Citrus scale insects are small insects that suck sap from the citrus trees and fruits. Honeydew is produced which is feasted upon by ants. They do not have much mouth parts. Male citrus scale has a short life span. There are mainly two types of scale on citrus plants armored scale and soft scales.  Armored scale insects insert their mouth parts in the plant and never move again, eating and reproducing in the same spot. Soft scale bugs on citrus form a protective coating, which in turns cover citrus leaves and prevents photosynthesis. Once dead, soft scale will fall from tree instead of remaining stuck. They can be controlled with the introduction of indigenous parasitic wasps. Neem oil is also effective against them. Spraying of Parathion (0.03%) emulsion, dimethoate 150ml or malathion @0.1% are effective against scale control.

Aphids & Mealy Bugs: They are small sap sucking pests. Bugs are present on the underside of leaves. Synthetic pyritheriods or pest oil can be used to control aphids and bugs.

• Disease and their control:
  

Citrus Canker: Plants have lesions on stems, leaves and fruits with brown, water-soaked margins. Citrus canker bacteria can enter through plant’s stomata into the leaves. Younger leaves are highly susceptible. Lesions oozes bacterial cells which can be dispersed by blowing wind to healthy plants in area.

Contaminated equipment tends to spread disease to healthy plants. Bacteria can stay viable in old lesions for several months. It can be detected by appearance of lesions. It can be controlled by cutting of effected branches, twigs. Spraying of Bordeux mixture @1%. Aqueous solution of 550ppm, Streptomycin Sulphate is also helpful in controlling citrus canker.
 
 

Gummosis: Exudation of gum from bark of tree is the characteristic symptom of gummosis disease. Affected plant leaves turns to pale yellow in color. Hardness masses of gum are common on stem and leaf surfaces. In severe cases, bark may be destroyed by rotting and tree may dies. Plant dies before the fruit matures. This disease is also called foot rot. This disease can be managed through proper selection of site with proper drainage, use of resistant varieties etc. Plant injuries should be avoided. Drench the soil with 0.2% metalaxyl MZ-72 + 0.5% trichodermaviride, which helps to control this disease. Bordeaux mixture should be applied to plant upto 50-75 cm height from ground level at least once in a year.
 

Lemon Scab: It affects some of the mandarin varieties and lemon fruits. Raised grey corky scabs on tree branches, fruits and leaves are seen causing distortions of the fruit. Fruits fall of at very early stages of growth. It is caused due to fungus. Copper spray mixed with white oil should be sprayed on the foliage to prevent lemon scab. 2 Table spoons of white oil to two liter of water should be added into 5 liter or copper spray mixture.

Iron deficiency: Color of new leaves changes to yellowish green. Iron chelates should be provided to the plants. Cow or Sheep manure is also helpful to cure plants from iron deficiency. This deficiency mostly occurs in case of alkaline soils.

On attaining proper size, shape along with attractive color having TSS to Acid ratio of 12:1, kinnow fruits is ready for harvest. Depending upon variety fruits are generally ready for harvesting in Mid- January to Mid- February. Do harvesting at proper time as too early or too late harvesting will give poor quality.

After harvesting, wash fruits with clean water then dip fruits in Clorinated water@2.5ml per Liter water. Then partially dried them. To improve appearance along with to maintain good quality, do Citrashine wax coating along with foam. Then these fruits are dried under shade and then packing is done. Fruits are packed in boxes.