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Pant Lemon-1 fruit cluster Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Pant Lemon-1 (Uttarakhand lemon)

Pant Lemon-1 is a true-lemon cultivar (Citrus limon) released by Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Unlike the small green Kagzi acid lime (Citrus Lemon Kagzi Lime Rajasthan), which is Citrus aurantiifolia, Pant Lemon-1 is a yellow-rinded, larger-fruited true lemon better suited to the Tarai-Bhabar foothill belt of Uttarakhand, the western Uttar Pradesh plains and the Himachal Pradesh foothills. It was released to provide a hardy, productive lemon for north Indian commercial plantings as an alternative to the older Eureka and Lisbon lemons that are poorly adapted to the Indian climate.

Key characteristics

  • Scientific name: Citrus limon (lemon).
  • Tree: medium-vigour, spreading, moderately thorny; commercial bearing from year 3-4.
  • Fruit: medium (70-100 g), oval to oblong with a small nipple at the apex; pale-yellow smooth rind at maturity; juicy pulp with 6-7% acidity; few seeds (4-8).
  • Bahar: flowers two to three times a year in the Tarai belt, with the ambia bahar (Jan-Feb) crop dominant; harvest extends through May-July.
  • Yield: 60-90 kg per tree at full bearing; 12-16 t/ha at 5 m x 5 m spacing.

Cultivation

Pant Lemon-1 is propagated by T-budding on rough lemon (Rough Lemon Jamberi Rootstock) and Rangpur lime (Rangpur Lime Rootstock) rootstocks, and by air layering for smallholder plantings. Spacing is conventionally 5 m x 5 m (400 trees/ha) in the Tarai-Bhabar foothill belt. GBPUAT recommends 600 g N + 300 g P + 600 g K per mature tree, applied in two splits with the ambia irrigation cycle. The Tarai belt receives 1200-1500 mm rainfall and supplementary basin or drip irrigation is required in the dry March-May window when fruit set and sizing occur. Pant Lemon-1 is also grown on smaller scale in western Uttar Pradesh (Saharanpur, Bijnor) and the Himachal Pradesh foothills (Una, Solan) and is increasingly trialled in Punjab as a replacement for Eureka.

Pest and disease profile

Citrus canker (Citrus Canker Xanthomonas) is the most damaging disease — true lemons are highly susceptible — and Pant Lemon-1 receives the same pre-monsoon copper oxychloride and streptocycline spray cycle as Kagzi acid lime. Citrus tristeza virus (Citrus Tristeza Virus India) tolerance depends on rootstock; the variety is acceptable on rough lemon for the Tarai climate but Rangpur lime is preferred in CTV-endemic sites. Citrus greening (Citrus Greening Hlb Candidatus) is present and increasing. Lemon butterfly (Papilio demoleus), Asian citrus psylla (Citrus Psylla Diaphorina Citri), citrus leaf miner and orchard mites are the main insect pests.

Adoption and use

Pant Lemon-1 supplies the off-season yellow-lemon market in north India and the National Capital Region, where Kagzi acid lime supply tightens during the post-monsoon period. The fruit moves through the Saharanpur, Haldwani and Rudrapur wholesale mandis. Processing into bottled lemon juice, lemon-honey RTS and dehydrated lemon slices is done at cottage and SME units in Pantnagar, Rudrapur and Haldwani. Other GBPUAT and ICAR releases — Pant Lemon-2, Pant Lemon-3 and Pant Kagzi Kalan — extend the lemon and lime portfolio for the Tarai-Bhabar belt.

See also: Citrus Lemon Kagzi Lime Rajasthan, Citrus Canker Xanthomonas, Rough Lemon Jamberi Rootstock.

Sources

  1. Pant Lemon-1 release notification. GBPUAT Pantnagar.
  2. Lemon cultivation. ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur.
  3. Lemon and lime varieties. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research.