It was a collective decision inspired by the vision of a single man who dreamt and made it. The GI-tagged Baksa lemon is today a universal product in Mumbai, and many other parts of the country, thanks to Manas Pratim Kalita, an entrepreneur of Charaimari, 40 km away from Aohata, a place in Baksa district which is representative of the lemon variety.
Teaming up with him since 2019 on this project are farmers from Aohata. The likes of Bishnu Nath, Bhrigu Kalita, Manoj Das, Saniram Toppo, Manab Das, Biju Kumar Barua, Raghunath Das, Raju Ramchiary, Chandan Chetri, et al.
These enterprising youths formed a Farmers’ Producer Company (FPC) with the nomenclature Nilachal Agro Producers’ Company. The idea was to push the citric acid-rich lemon variety to global markets.
The success of the FPC can be gauged from the fact that there are 862 members in the company.
According to Bishnu Nath, a director in FPC, there are 46 villages around Aohata where lemon is cultivated by 3691 farmers in an area measuring 7,780 bighas. “The area produces 62,240 MT lemons. The bigger variety cost ₹5 each while the smaller one is priced at ₹3.50 per piece,” Nath told Asom Barta.
In one of its high moments, the FPC sent 4,000 pieces of lemon to London in July 2022. The company is discussing with other buyers for a similar consignment across the seven seas. “The problem with this variety is that they are perishable in nature. You cannot refrigerate them for a long time. The other problem is that our farmers do not understand how to select the right pieces for supply to other places,” Nath told this reporter, adding that they have started using organic fertiliser. The company has also participated in agricultural exhibitions in cities like Chennai, Pune, and Delhi, among others.
Just next to the house of farmer Dhruba Das in Aohata is a plot of land measuring four bighas. It is exclusively used to grow lemon. “I sold lemon worth ₹15,000 this week. Even if the price fluctuates, we make up by producing more,” he told this newsletter.
Manoj Das, another farmer of the area informed this reporter that his lemon plants are five years old, and he expected them to yield quality lemon for seven more years, after which he will have to plant new ones. “A good lemon tree can yield anywhere between 8,000 to 10,000 lemons a year,” he said.
The FPC has also gone ahead with a value-added initiative by introducing lemon juice in the market after numerous experimentation. Having hit the right formula, the company has introduced its lemon juice in Assam with the brand name “Assam Lemon Juice”. It has also added Star Fruit juice to its portfolio. The FPC was assisted by the Niti Aayog Aspirational District Programme scheme wherein a grant of ₹15 lakh was given to them for a processing plant.
Baksa District Agriculture Officer Dulal Chandra Das is optimistic now that farmers of the area have taken a giant stride in becoming self-reliant through value-addition of locally-produced agro products.
District Commissioner, Baksa, Masanda Magdalin Pertin, has assured all support to the FPC in taking Assam Lemon Juice to all corners of Assam, and the country. “The lemon processing unit can process 12-13% (0.6 MT in a year) of total production of the area in a year. The area under cultivation is growing. Establishing more such processing units and infrastructure augmentation of the existing unit will help us achieve our desired objective,” she told this reporter.
Kalita, the CEO of the FPC, said that their vision was to introduce Assam lemon in various markets. “The market abroad is quite challenging in respect to cost competitiveness. But we have received a good response in a metropolitan city like Mumbai. We have requested refrigerated vans from the Directorate of Horticulture & Food Processing to send Assam lemon to Mumbai regularly. Besides, we are planning a round-the-year supply of our packaged juice across India and nearby countries like Bhutan & Nepal,’’ he said.
