The Marathwada region of Maharashtra saw insufficient rainfall so far this year. This, combined with dried-up soil, a rise in temperature and infection in fruits, might result in the production of sweet limes dropping drastically, an expert said on Wednesday. Maharashtra tops the country in the cultivation of sweet limes with 21,525 hectares of area being used for the purpose in Aurangabad district, while 14,325 hectares in Jalna district.
The state government has recently sanctioned a project named Citrus Estate for research in sweet lime and sanctioned Rs 364.4 mln funds for the purpose, they said.
Sanjay Patil from the Agriculture Research Station based in Badnapur of Jalna district said: "We are visiting the fields extensively to monitor the growth of sweet limes and check the losses. As of now, around 25-30 per cent of the fruits have fallen. If the no-rainfall condition continues, the losses may go up in the near period.”
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Source: theweek.in
