Many varieties of lemon are grown in the country, and many people have become self-reliant by growing them. But the fruit of citrus trees drops for many reasons, including hormones, nutrition, disease and pests. Steps must be taken to stop citrus fruit falling before it matures.

• Apply fertiliser to the tree in balanced doses.
• If the tree shows signs of micronutrient deficiency, apply a micronutrient mixture.
• Give a suitable dose of any one of the products on the market such as Multiplex, Agromin, Tracel-2, Ply Aid, Agromor or Plantfeed.
• If fruit drops for hormonal reasons, spray the tree with hormone: spray the hormone 2,4-D at 10 ppm twice.
• Spray first in August and again in October. If it is not available, spray Planofix hormone at 10-12 ppm strength at flowering and once more a month later.

• Take timely preventive measures against the various diseases.
• Make sure water does not collect at the base of the tree.
• If gum oozes from the base of the tree, that is, gummosis, clean the affected part and apply Bordeaux paste.
• For canker and anthracnose, prune the affected young twigs and leaves, carry them away and destroy them. Then spray the tree with Blitox or Fytolan (4 g per litre of water) or Indofil M-45 (2.5 g per litre of water).

• If the tree is attacked by twig borer, cut and destroy the affected branches.
• Adult stem borers come out and settle on the tree from April to September; catch and kill them then.
• Push cotton wool soaked in petrol or kerosene into the stem borer's hole and seal it with mud; the insect will die inside.
• To protect against fruit-eating insects, spray endosulfan at 0.07 per cent when the fruit is the size of a marble, and repeat every seven days after the first spray until the fruit is fully grown.
• To control fruit flies and fruit-sucking moths, mix molasses in 5 litres of water, add some orange juice and hang it in the tree. The insects feed on the molasses mixture and die.
• Burying infested fruit in a pit will reduce attacks.

Taking these steps will largely stop lemon fruit from dropping. Lemon is needed on the dining table all year round, so look after your lemon trees and you can prosper financially.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.