Dang, Feb 11: Prateek Lohani of Teraute, Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City-16, has found his calling in commercial lemon farming.
Back home after his long stay in the USA in course of higher studies and employment, he has started lemon farming on four bighas land since the last two years.
He had brought plants of the ‘sun kagati’ variety from Parbat district last year to start with. This variety of lemon produces fruits in three years from planting.
Lohani said that ‘sun kagati’ is considered best of lemon varieties for commercial farming and he brought this variety of lemon from Parbat for this purpose.
“It is said normally the ‘sun kagati’ variety starts giving fruits in three years after planting. However, here at my farm, several plants have bore fruits in two years,” Lohani said. He said although the lemon plants have started producing fruits, he would rather not pick them up this year and leave them as a trial.
According to him, the plants will start producing fruits on a commercial scale from the next year. Lohani has planted 1,500 plants on around four bighas land that he has taken on lease for lemon farming. Lohani, who has also been producing farm manure required for lemon cultivation, has provided employment to two persons. He has rented per kattha of land at Rs 3,000 annually.
Lohani has also set a plan of expanding lemon cultivation and has made arrangement to irrigate the lemon farm through the drip irrigation technology. Lohani has involved in commercial lemon cultivation by utilizing the land, which had remained barren for long. He further said that he has been carrying out activities in order to develop Teraute village as a ‘green village’.
Similarly, commercial vegetable farming including lemon, tomato has now been started in his village. Lohani, who is civil engineer by profession, had worked in a hydropower company in Kathmandu for few years after returning from America, and returned to his village to develop it as a green village.
He chose lemon farming as there is no problem of market for lemon and there is less risk of disease in lemon as compared to other vegetables, shared Lohani.#nepal #rss
