A crisscross narrow passage went through the village of Baliakhora. On both sides of the passage, rows of houses surrounded by greenery can be seen near and far away. Courtyard of almost all the houses is covered with different varieties of lemon trees including Kagoji, Elachi and Colomboo. The eye-soothing beauty of green lemon trees and its enchanting fragrance will give pleasure to anybody.
Earlier, the people of Baliakhari used to produce different vegetables on their courtyards. Now all of them are cultivating lemons on courtyards on commercial basis in an attempt to come out of poverty.
The village which has become familiar as ‘lemon village’ at present is at Baliakhora union under Gheor Upazila in Manikganj. Many call it the ‘village of vitamin-C’. Around 300 families live in the village. All the families are cultivating lemon on their courtyards. Of them, about 150 families have more than one lemon garden.
Lemon farmers of Baliakhora said all kinds of lemons are produced in the village, especially the Colombo variety which yields in plenty. In addition, Kagoji and Elachi varieties are also cultivated. Lemon produced in our village has beautiful fragrance and the taste is good also.
“Lemons produced in this village are distributed all over the country, mostly in Dhaka, Gazipur, Savar, Faridpur and Tangail.
Narayan Chandra Bachchu, a lemon cultivator and also a retired school teacher, has four lemon gardens where Kagoji, Elachi and Colombo varieties are produced.
“At times, the lemon trees become affected by insects and eventually die. But none from the agriculture department assist us in this regard,” Narayan alleged.
Another lemon producer Jewel Miya (35) alleged that they don’t get the fair price every now and then. He said, “We face harassment at different places where we go to sell our products. Many a time we sell the lemons to intermediaries from the gardens to avoid harassment. But in that case, also the price what we get is far below the market price.”
Jewel urged the government to take necessary steps for creating a fair distribution system.
Several lemon cultivators made the same allegation to this correspondent that government agriculture officials do not help them when asked. They said if the agriculture department supplied us with insecticides, fertilizer, and vitamin it would be a great help to us.
Baliakhora UP chairman Abdul Awal Khan said, “There are around 150 lemon gardens in this union. Most of the villagers live by lemon cultivation.
The public representative also echoed the plight of the lemon farmers of his locality. He said, “Urea, TSP and potash fertilizers, vitamins and insecticides are needed for lemon cultivation. If the agriculture department paid heed to the demand of the lemon farmers, they would be benefitted a lot.”
Gheor Upazila agriculture official Ashrafuzzaman said, “Each union has a deputy-assistant agriculture officer to assist the farmers in field level. Action will be taken against him if anyone neglects his duty.”