Hamirpur farmers take up cultivation of 'mosambi'

Hamirpur, November 15

Many farmers in Bakarti village of the district have raised orchards of ‘mosambi’ (sweet lemon) for better returns. Hundreds of farmers in the district had left agriculture due to the monkey menace and the land turning barren.

The Horticulture Department advised them to adopt ‘mosambi’ cultivation as monkeys do not damage citreous crops. Moreover, citreous crops are less prone to diseases and also need less nursing compared to other varieties of fruit. As many as 24 farmers of the village chose to cultivate ‘mosambi’ on two hectares.

Ramesh Kumar, a farmer of the village, says that the Horticulture Department had provided 2,300 ‘mosambi’ plants to farmers three years ago and now these had started bearing fruit. He added that the fruit yield was low as plants were too young but their quality was good.