By Hari Prasad Koirala

Morang, Feb : Six years after starting the cultivation of lemon in 3 bighas of land by stalling the production of mustard and finger millet, Binod Kumar Wasti has started earning more than Rs 1.5 million per year.

Wasti, who used to earn Rs 55,000 to 60,000 per year by selling mustard and finger millet, boosted his economic condition after starting the cultivation of ‘Madrasi lemon’ in 2014.

“The yearly income has never been less than Rs 1.5 million after I started cultivating lemon,” said Wasti.

According to Wasti, it was only from the third year that he started earning from the cultivated lemon.

In the 3 bighas of land, Wasti had grown 30 tons of lemon in 2017 and 40 tons in 2018. With a huge quantity of lemon being produced in the two years, the third year’s production was, however, affected by hailstone. In 2019, only 10 tons of lemons were collected.

Meanwhile, Wasti has already collected 30 tons of lemon in the recent year and says will still be collecting four to five tons of lemon before the year ends.

“Despite growing demand from Biratnagar, Dharan and Kathmandu, we have not been able to address it as the production is very low when compared to the market demand,” said Wasti.

With the demands increasing, Wasti has also established a nursery with 15,000 lemon plants to supply at the market of Belbari Municipality.

“The lemon produced in my land is mainly sold in Itahari, Sunsari. If we need to fulfill the demand of lemon, we will need 200 more farms like mine,” said Wasti.

While the big lemons are taken to the market, small ones are bought by locals for their small pickle industries.

The lemon cultivation by Wasti has also been inspiring other locals towards agriculture. Bir Bhakta Rai, a neighbour of Wasti, has also started cultivating lemon in 3 bighas of land.

The farm has also been providing a year-long job to two individuals while 10 other people are hired for 45 days in a year to pick lemons. The 10 people can pick 1.5 tons of lemons in a day.

As others have been inspired, none of the three tiers of governments has sensed the difficulty faced by farmers like Wasti in the irrigation sector.