Young agri-entrepreneur Jahangir Alam has succeeded at his first attempt at growing lemons in Sharsha, Jashore. Green lemons now hang in clusters in the orchard he planted three and a half years ago, and his success has encouraged many people in the area.

Wholesalers come to the orchard to buy the lemons, so he has no extra trouble marketing them. He sells each lemon for Tk 5 and is very pleased with the price. People from various areas regularly visit the orchard and are inspired to grow lemons.

The agriculture office says lemon farming costs little and brings a much larger profit. Plants bear fruit from a year after planting, and with proper care a single planting keeps yielding for at least 10–15 years. Lemons are in demand all year round, and lemons rich in vitamin C are very good for resisting various viruses, which has raised demand in the market.

Jahangir Alam said: "Alongside my garments business, and after watching YouTube, I planted 350 China-3 fragrant lemon saplings on two and a half bigha three and a half years ago, using improved methods. Buying saplings, digging pits, fertiliser and other costs came to about Tk 40,000–50,000. The trees started fruiting a year after planting."

In the orchard, each tree was seen bearing 200–250 fruit. He has already sold 20,000 lemons at Tk 5 each, for Tk 1 lakh, and about 30,000 more can be sold. Besides this, Jahangir Alam sells about 50,000–60,000 lemons from the orchard every year for Tk 5–6 lakh.

Upazila agriculture officer Dipak Kumar Saha said: "Jahangir Alam of Goga village in the upazila has succeeded by planting a lemon orchard on his own initiative. The upazila agriculture office has been giving advice and training to encourage the growing of lemons, malta, mangoes and other fruit. Sub-assistant agriculture officers in every block stay alongside farmers and advise them at all times on growing various fruits and crops."

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