Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar/Jalna. Maharashtra is known for the production of orange as well as sweet lime. The juicy fruit sweet lime is produced on thousands of hectares of land here. Farmers also earn a good income from this cash crop, but this time it seems that nature is angry with the farmers here. Due to lack of rain and severe heat, the sweet lime crop has suffered extensive damage. Due to drought conditions and lack of water, more than 11 lakh sweet lime trees have been damaged in the gardens of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and neighboring Jalna district of Maharashtra.
An official of the state agriculture department said that due to drought, sweet lime trees planted on more than 4,062 hectares of land in these districts have dried up. Maharashtra is at the forefront in the country in terms of sweet lime production. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Jalna are among the largest sweet lime producing districts in the state. The agriculture department official said that sweet lime is grown on 35,850 hectares of land in these two districts. He further said that according to the rules, 277 sweet lime trees are grown on one hectare of land. According to this, 11,25,174 sweet lime trees dried up due to lack of water due to less rainfall last year.
Rain will wreak havoc for five days, the situation here is the worst, western disturbance will bring devastation
4,062 hectares affected
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Jalna districts, sweet lime trees on 4,062 hectares of land have been affected by the drought. Of these two districts, Jalna has suffered the most damage, where trees on 3,600 hectares of land have dried up. An official of the Jalna Agriculture Department said, ‘So far 3,590 sweet lime trees have dried up. Some farmers have cut the trees, while others have not done so yet.’ There has been damage in 4 tehsils in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. Officials said that 1,30,744 trees spread over 472 hectares of land have died and farmers have cut them down.
Adequate water is necessary
District Superintendent Agriculture Officer Prakash Deshmukh said, ‘Like sugarcane, sweet lime is also a crop that guarantees good income if water is available throughout the year. But these trees get destroyed in this manner every five years in the area.’ Deshmukh further said that when the sweet lime tree dries up, it has to be cut down. The age of the dry tree can range from three years to 15 years. Usually 277 sweet lime plants are planted on one hectare of land. Some farmers plant 300 trees in one hectare.
Tags: agriculture department, Maharashtra News
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 12, 2024, 20:55 IST