Citrus, altius, fortius

This lemon has nothing to do with Assam8217;s world-famous rhino habitat Kaziranga. Yet the Assamese fondly call it kazi-nemu, nemu being t...

This lemon has nothing to do with Assam8217;s world-famous rhino habitat Kaziranga. Yet the Assamese fondly call it kazi-nemu, nemu being the local equivalent of the Hindi nimbu. Now, their soft spot for the indigenous lemon variety is growing as its commercial prospects becomes brighter.

8216;8216;It has very few seeds, besides being one of the juiciest and tastiest citrus varieties to grow in Assam,8217;8217; says a senior official of the state agriculture department. 8216;8216;It also has very high commercial potential.8217;8217;

Such are the returns that the area under commercial kazi-nemu cultivation has gone up by at least 250 hectares in the past three years, according to agriculture department figures, and now touches 8,918 hectares.

Ever since citrus cultivation came under the umbrella of the Horticulture Mission, the average yield has also shot up, from 5,426 kg/hectare to a little over 6,800 hectare in 2004-05. The rise in productivity is reflected in the state8217;s total production: Assam is currently producing about 60,000 metric tons of kazi-nemu, of which about 20 per cent finds its way to the market in neighbouring West Bengal, and another 20 per cent goes out to the other states of the Northeastern region.

Oblong, rather than round, the Assam lemon is normally between 10 and 14 cm in length, has a diameter of five to eight cm and weighs at least 100 gm. Its distinct advantage over other citrus varieties is that it takes just two years to bear fruit, and once it reaches that stage, produces fruit round the year.

8216;8216;Because of its perennial fruit, farmers regard kazi nemu a permanent source of income. Prices go up in the lean season, from December to April,8217;8217; says an official.

To take advantage of the rise in prices, farmers prune the plants by 15-20 cm soon after the end of the peak season.

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Interestingly, Assam is home to the highest number of citrus species in the entire country, with recent studies putting the number of species at 17. While Assam lemon or kazi-nemu comes under the 8216;citrus limon8217; species, it also has nine cousins: pati-nemu, jora-tenga, elachi-nemu, soh-long, soh-synteng, godhapati-nemu and muri-tenga, all of which have different flavours and tastes.

Elachi-nemu elattaria cardamom, in fact, has been already identified as a special variety for commercial promotion with the districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills being identified as special pockets.