Acid Lime

Horticulture Guruji

Acid Lime

Fruit Science

Kagzi Lime / Sour Lime

  • Botanical Name –  Citrus aurantifolia
  • Family – Rutaceae
  • Ch. No. – 2n = 18
  • Origin – India
  • Fruit type– Hesperidium
  • Inflorescence type – Cymose (Solitary)
  • Edible part – Juicy Placental Hairs.

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  • India rank 5th among major lime and lemon producing country in the world.
  • In 2018-19 area of lime and lemon in India is 296 thousand ha. and Production 3397 thousand MT.
  • In 2018 Maximum area and production of lime and lemon in Gujarat (605.62 thousand MT from 46.28 thousand ha) followed by Andhra Pradesh (562.01 thousand MT from 34.88 thousand ha).
  • Kagzi lime is the indicator plant of Tristeza and it is highly susceptible to this disease.
  • Citrus canker is the most serious disease of acid lime.
  • Acid lime is a tropical plant.
  • Gajanimma (Citrus pennivesiculata) and Rough lemon are the most promising rootstock of acid lime.
  • Classification of citrus was given by Tanka and Swingle (1945)
  • Spain is the largest exporter of citrus.
  • The ultra-dwarf rootstock of citrus – Flying dragon.

Varieties

  • Pramalini – Canker tolerant
  • Vikram
  • Chakradhar – Seedless variety of acid lime
  • P K M – 1
  • Sai Sarbati – Tolerant to Tristeza and Canker
    Acid Lime
    Acid Lime / Kagzi Nibu
  • Jai Devi – Pleasant Aroma

Climate

  • Tropical climate,
  • Strong wind and frost are harmful,
  • Grown from sea level to 1000m or so elevation.
  • Annual rainfall does not exceed an average of 75cm.

Soil

Well-drained, deep (1.5m.), medium to light soil.

Propagation

Mainly by seed.

Planting

  • Pits are dug during summer with a dimension of 60-75 cm3.
  • Acid lime planted at a distance of 5×5 or 6×6 m.
  • The best time of planting is the onset of the monsoon.

Manure and Fertilizers

  • F Y M – 50 kg, N : P : K – 500g : 400g : 900gm/ tree
  • From fifth years and onwards.
  • Every year it is applied first in December – January before spring flowering and the second application is done in June – July.

Irrigation

  • Winter 15-20 days interval and in summer 8-10 days interval.
  • Sufficient soil moisture is maintained during fruit setting and fruit development.

Interculture and intercropping

  • Hoeing once and twice a year (during the post-monsoon season)
  • Early-stage of growth legumes and some vegetables are taken.

Training and pruning

  • Training is done in the early stage giving support with bamboo split sticks if needed.
  • Later age (Bearing trees) may be pruned unwanted branches.

Flowering and Fruiting

  • Tree start Flowering fourth year onward after planting.
  • The fruit mature six months after flowering.
  • Higher fruit setting minimum fruit drop and higher fruit yield is obtained with the spraying of Zn So4 at 0.6 % + 2, 4-D at 20ppm in early January.

Harvesting

  • In Gujarat, 60% of the total crop is harvested from July to September, 30% from October – January, and 10% from February to May.
  • In North India Harvesting is done from August – September.
  • Fruits are harvest when the rind colour changes from green to yellow.

Yield

80-150 quintals / ha.

Difference between lime and lemon

Lime

Lemon

Botanical Name C. aurantifolia

Botanical Name C. limon

Leaves and flowers are small

Medium size leaves among Citrus sp.

Marked petiole wings

Petiole wings very narrow or absent

Stamens are around 25

Stamens are around 30

Peel is very thin

Medium-thick

Pulp vesicles are small and thin

Comparatively big and thick

Pulp greenish in appearance

Pale yellow in an appearance

References cited

  1. Commercial Fruits. By S. P. Singh
  2. A text book on Pomology, Vol,1. by T. K. Chattapadhya
  3. Tropical Horticulture, Vol.1, by T. K. Bose, S. K. Mitra, A. A. Farooqui and M. K. Sadhu

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