VIJAYAPURA : Saplings of Vijayapura lemon are in great demand with its Kagzi variety getting geographical indication (GI) tag three years ago.
Farmers of Vijayapura district have sold five lakh saplings so far this year, according to officials of the Horticulture Department.Vijayapura is the largest lemon growing district in the state and more than 50% of production comes from Indi taluk in the district.
The officials said usually the saplings are bought by farmers from Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Bagalkot, Raichur, Dharwad and Belagavi districts. But with Vijayapura lemon getting the GI tag, farmers from Solapur, Pandharpur and
Usmanabad in Maharashtra and from some districts in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have started thronging the nurseries in the district to buy the saplings.
With the demand for saplings increasing, several farmers in the district, especially from Indi taluk, have reserved most of their land for lemon nurseries.
The saplings are now being sold for Rs 13 (one-year-old), Rs 25 (two-year-old and Rs 100 for bigger ones.
Rahul Bhavidoddi, Deputy Director of Horticulture, said the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Indi organises workshops and awareness programmes periodically for farmers on raising lemon saplings and marketing them.