Koderma Lime

Koderma district in Jharkhand is blessed with abundant natural resources, mineral deposits and diverse horticultural crops. In recent years, this district has emerged as a major producer of fruits like lime, apple, guava, bael, jamun, custard apple, tamarind and karonda (black currant).

The agro-climatic conditions (warm summers, cool winters, average annual rainfall of 1344 mm, red and yellow soils and dense forest cover) is conducive for cultivating paddy, wheat, millets and commercial crops like lemon grass, cabbage, cauliflower, chilli, tomato, peas, brinjal and potato.

As agriculture is the primary occupation of more than 60 percent of the residents in this district, small and marginal farmers also grow a variety of ornamental flowers and medicinal plants besides the native spices like ginger, turmeric and coriander that can be grown throughout the year.

This has significantly increased their income and the gradual shift to intercropping with paddy, wheat, millets and vegetables has improved the soil health, maximized the usage of land and increased the yield of subsequent crops grown.

Koderma lime is considered to be one of the best acid limes in the country and is extremely popular in the processing industry. Varieties like Kagzi lime, Pramalini, Vikram, Jai Devi, Sai Sharbati, Phule Sharbati and Seedless lime are grown across the district. The limes take about 150 to 160 days to mature and therefore, there are 2 sometimes 3 crops in a year.

The fruits of this district are medium to big in size with high juice content. Pickles, marmalade, lime cordial, lime juice, lime concentrate, dehydrated lime pieces, lime candy, lime powder and others are the commonly found value-added products available across the state.

Written by Lakshmi Subramanian