Mongalbaria litchi becoming popular without much care

Two litchi growers sorting the plucked fruits. PHOTO: STAR

A festive mood now prevails at remote Mongalbaria village in Pakundia thana in the district.

Well-off farmers are busy in plucking and selling their special variety of litchi, known as Mongalbaria litchi, acclaimed for its special look and mouth-watering taste.

It is different from litchis produced in other districts. It is larger in size and its pulp is very thick with smaller seed inside.

Many traders, mainly from Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet have flocked to the village.

The fruit has brought about a change in the densely populated village.

But there is no litchi garden worth the name. As land is scarce, farmers have grown litchi trees on courtyards with great care. There is no house in the village without at least a few litchi trees.

The number of trees would be at least 15000, said Upazila Agriculture Officer Azizul Huq in the presence of Deputy Director (DD) of Agriculture Extension Department (AED) Abul Khair when this correspondent visited the village last week.

"They raised small gardens on their own initiative. We now provide advice only for protection against pest attack and disease", he said.

The credit goes to schoolteacher Hasim Monshi, who had planted a sapling years back. As the plant yielded good quality litchis, others became interested and grew trees on yards.

Joynal Mia earned about Tk one lakh this year from his 20 small trees grown around his house. Azizul Huq, Assistant Teacher at Narandi Government Primary School, earned about Tk 20,000 from one big tree.

Former Union Parishad member Md Shamsu has 16 litchi trees. "I normally get litchis from these trees in alternate years.

This year they are selling litchis at Tk 100 per hundred to traders. The price should be higher but we are compelled to sell the fruit at the price offered by traders because the communication is very bad.

The lone kutcha road to the village is unfit for use by truck or pickup.

Nonetheless, life in the village is changing gradually. From profits earned from litchi trees, villagers are now taking to other businesses. Some small poultry and dairy farms have sprang up.