Sai Sharbati
An improved acid-lime selection on the same commercial-orchard line as Balaji.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Lemon & Lime
- Type
- Planting material
- Season
- All seasons
- Starts bearing
- Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant)
- Expected yield
- About 9.8 t/ha in a Karnataka trial
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Moderate
- Release
- Bred by Dr. Narayan Chawda and sold by VNR Nursery; a private release, with no official release year
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Sai Sharbati is an acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia) bred by Dr. Narayan Chawda and sold through VNR Nursery, a private nursery. It is not an ICAR or state-university release. It bears small, round, yellow fruit of 30–45 g with a thin peel and high juice content. In a 2025 Plant Archives trial of nine acid-lime varieties at Tidagundi, Karnataka, it gave 9.84 t/ha from 281.21 fruits a plant at 42.00 g each, the lowest fruit count of the nine.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Sai Sharbati if you want to try a privately bred acid lime that bears small, round, yellow fruit of 30–45 g with a thin peel and high juice. In the 2025 Karnataka trial it gave 9.84 t/ha from 281.21 fruits a plant at 42.00 g, the lowest fruit count of the nine, with the highest acidity (7.75%). It is not an ICAR or state-university release, so you rely on the nursery's word. Choose Balaji (about 13.8 t/ha in the same trial) or Vikram (18.84 t/ha) for a stronger trial record.
Sowing & cultivation
- Spacing5–6 m between trees, in pits of 75 × 75 × 75 cm (TNAU, acid-lime guide)
- IrrigationWater well after planting, then every 7–10 days once established; avoid waterlogging (TNAU)
- FertilizerPer tree: first year 10 kg farmyard manure, 200 g N, 100 g P2O5, 100 g K2O; from the sixth year 30 kg, 600 g, 200 g, 300 g. N in two doses, March and October (TNAU, general acid lime)
- HarvestingBearing begins in the third year after planting (TNAU, acid lime)
Advantages & considerations
Things to consider
- It has no ICAR or university release record, so you are relying on the nursery's word for the plant, and should ask for a written source
- In the Karnataka trial it had the lowest fruit count per plant (281.21), the second-lowest yield (9.84 t/ha), the highest acidity (7.75%) and the lowest vitamin C (28.42 mg/100 g) of the nine varieties. 9.84 t/ha is still a good commercial yield, but the ranking is worth knowing
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Andhra Pradesh
A private variety: what to get in writing
Sai Sharbati was bred by Dr. Narayan Chawda and is sold through VNR Nursery. It has no ICAR or university release record, so you cannot check it against an official variety page the way you can with Vikram or Balaji.
Before you pay, get the following in writing: the breeder's name, where the mother trees stand, the number of plants, the price, and what the nursery will do if the plants turn out different from the description. Keep the tags and the bill until the first fruit confirms the type.
Then compare it fairly. In the Karnataka trial it gave 9.84 t/ha from 281.21 fruits a plant at 42.00 g, with the highest acidity of the nine varieties. Plant a small block beside Balaji, and let your own two seasons decide.
Where the planting material comes from
This variety is budded onto a rootstock, not grown from seed. Seed out of its fruit will not come up as this variety, so it cannot be kept as seed. Buy budded plants from a registered nursery or a government farm, so the plant is true to the variety and free of disease.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Lemon & Lime variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assam Lemon (Kaji Nemu) | GI-tagged aromatic Assam lemon, large near-seedless fruit | Bearing from year 3–4 (grafted plant) | 100–130 q/ha at full bearing | Assam |
| Balaji | Leading Andhra Pradesh acid lime, round smooth juicy fruit | Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant) | About 13.8 t/ha in a Karnataka trial | Andhra Pradesh |
| Eureka (lemon) | True thornless lemon with tender, sour, mostly seedless fruit | Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant) | Medium | Maharashtra |
| Kagzi Kalan | True lemon bearing twice a year, for fresh and juice use | Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant) | Medium–high | West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh |
| Lisbon (lemon) | Clean-looking international true lemon, unproven yield in India | Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant) | Medium | Maharashtra |
| Pant Lemon 1 | University-selected lemon from Kagzi Kalan for the Tarai belt | Bearing from year 3–4 (grafted plant) | 150–180 q/ha at full bearing | Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab |
| Pramalini (Kagzi lime) | Tall, many-fruited acid lime with mid-range trial yield | Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant) | About 12.5 t/ha in a Karnataka trial | Andhra Pradesh |
| Sai Sharbatithis page | Private-nursery acid lime with larger, very tart fruit | Bearing from year 3 (grafted plant) | About 9.8 t/ha in a Karnataka trial | Andhra Pradesh |
| Vikram (Kagzi lime) | Best-yielding acid lime in recent trials, with long shelf life | Bearing from year 3–4 (grafted plant) | 120–150 q/ha at full bearing | Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Lemon & Lime is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Lemon & Lime plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Lemon & Lime variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Lemon & Lime into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Lemon & Lime rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Lemon & Lime seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Who bred Sai Sharbati?
Dr. Narayan Chawda bred it, and it is marketed through VNR Nursery — a private breeding and marketing effort, not an ICAR or state-university release.
How does Sai Sharbati compare to Balaji?
Both are Andhra Pradesh-associated acid-lime cultivars on the same commercial-orchard line; in a direct 2025 comparative trial, Balaji produced far more fruits per plant (512 vs 281.21) and a higher yield (13.79 t/ha vs 9.84 t/ha), while Sai Sharbati's individual fruits were slightly heavier (42.00 g vs 32.33 g).
What does Sai Sharbati fruit look like?
Small, round and yellow when mature, with thin peel and high juice content. VNR Nursery's own listing gives a fruit weight of 30–45 g, in line with the trial figure of 42.00 g.
How acidic is Sai Sharbati fruit?
The comparative trial recorded 7.75% titratable acidity, the highest among the nine acid-lime varieties it tested, so it is a very tart lime even by acid-lime standards.
What yield can be expected from Sai Sharbati?
9.84 t/ha in a comparative trial. That is a substantial commercial yield in absolute terms, though on the lower side relative to top performers like Vikram (18.84 t/ha) in the same trial.
What should I ask the nursery before buying Sai Sharbati?
Ask for the name of the breeder, a written source for the mother tree, and a photo of fruiting plants. Because it is a private variety, there is no ICAR or university record, so keep the bill and tag until it fruits true to type.
Is it more acidic than other acid limes?
In the Karnataka trial it had the highest titratable acidity of the nine, 7.75%, against 6.94% for Pramalini and 6.91% for Vikram. If your buyers want a very tart lime, that suits them. If they want a milder juice, it may not.
How do I deal with leaf miner?
TNAU's acid-lime guide lists dichlorvos, dimethoate or neem options such as 50 g per litre neem seed kernel extract, 3% neem cake extract or neem oil. Check the current label and waiting period with your KVK before spraying, and spray new flushes, which the miner attacks first.
Sai Sharbati or Balaji?
Balaji gave far more fruit per plant (512 against 281.21) and a higher yield (13.79 t/ha against 9.84 t/ha) in the Karnataka trial, while Sai Sharbati's fruit were slightly heavier (42.00 g against 32.33 g). Balaji has the longer record, so choose it unless your buyer pays for the larger fruit.
Sourced from: TNAU Agritech Portal — Acid lime. editorial policy.