Md. Abdullah, Jaintapur (Sylhet) Correspondent //

Jaintia’s Zara lemon is now in demand both at home and abroad. In Jaintapur Upazila, which borders Sylhet, about 100 farming families have now become self-reliant by cultivating Zara lemon. The Zara lemon produced in the area is now being exported abroad, leaving the domestic market. This is changing the fate of farmers.

Farming families are turning to Zara lemon cultivation as Zara lemon cultivation is more profitable than other crops. The land and hilly terrain make it very suitable for lemon cultivation.

The Chiknagul, Haripur, Jaintapur and Fatehpur markets of Jaintapur Upazila are very well known to people for Zara lemon. Traders from different parts of the country come to the area to buy Zara lemon.

After advanced processing, traders export it to various countries in the Middle East including London, America, Singapore, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

A visit to the 5 unions of the upazila shows that commercial cultivation of Zara lemon is being done on hilly land in various areas including Shyampur, Haripur, Bagerkhal, Shikarkhan, Utlarpar of Fatepur Union No. 5 of the upazila, Umonpur, Panichhara, Thakurer Mati of Chiknagul Union, and Kalinanjibari of Nijpat Union. Farmer families are interested in cultivating Zara lemon as its yield is higher than any other crop and its demand in the market is high. Most farmers in this region are turning to Zara lemon cultivation in the hope of more profit by cultivating other crops. Unemployment in the area is being eliminated and the common people of the village are becoming economically self-sufficient. Once upon a time, a lot of land used to lie fallow for years, but now the value of these lands has increased several times more than all other lands. The grafted seedlings of Zara lemon start bearing fruit two years after planting and the trees can bear fruit for more than 5 years. Zara lemon is characterized by a very tasty and sour fruit. The lemon looks like a pumpkin. Even if there is not much lemon juice, it is very tasty to eat.

Farmer Nazrul Islam of Bagerkhal village told the reporter that our area is very suitable for Zara lemon cultivation. Our ancestors cultivated Zara lemon only for their own family, now we have started cultivating it commercially.

Another farmer of Bagerkhal village, Nasir Mia, said that I have been cultivating lemon for a long time. Currently, I have received fertilizer and pesticides from the government. If we had received better seedlings and training, the lemon production would have doubled. 5 workers are engaged in my garden every day for maintenance. This season, the garden has started to bring profit. If the government had provided quality training to real farmers like us and provided quality pesticides and improved seedlings to prevent diseases and pests, we could have benefited and earned a lot of foreign exchange by exporting rotten lemons to foreign markets.

Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Md. Ishtiaq Ahmed told The Daily Morning Sun about lemon cultivation – We have established 200 to 250 gardens of various sizes under the Lemon Crop Expansion, Management and Production Increase Project through the actual farmers of the area in the financial year 2024-25. In addition, we distribute all the necessary equipment and provide hands-on training through the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Extension in the garden area.

Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Mohammad Jabel Khalil Chowdhury said, we distribute all the equipment including quality seedlings, fertilizers and pesticides for lemon production from the Department of Agriculture Extension.

In this regard, Jaintapur Upazila Agriculture Officer Shamima Akhter told the reporter – Jaintapur’s soil and climate are suitable for citrus fruits. There are high and low hills, rainwater does not accumulate easily in the tree trunk, so Jaintapur has the potential to produce more citrus and lemon crops at low cost. Our agriculture department regularly trains farmers. Moreover, it has been advising farmers.

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