<i>It's litchi time</i>

Family members at Masimpur in Dinajpur join hands together bundling up litchis to sell in the market (left). A kid plucks litchis from a tree at his grandfather's garden. The photos were taken on Sunday.Photo: Anisur Rahman

As if the roads cutting through the green, calm northern district are decorated on purpose. Clusters of pink-red delicate beauties with roughly-textured rind sit on green leaf covering on long patches of pitch-road. It's the month of May, season for the pink blush, litchi.
About 430 kilometres off Dinajpur, vendors on pavements and corners of different neighbourhoods in the capital, besides those sitting under well-roofed fruit shops, have already rearranged the display. The delicious, juicy, pink-red-skinned small shapes have now occupied the foreground.
Travelling this long way, the white-pulp fruit becomes much dearer, sometimes assuming two to three times the price they are sold at where they are grown.
Several varieties, including the most popular Bedana and China-3, and Madraji have already hit the markets. However, people will have to wait for the translucent flesh of Bombai till first week of June.
On the growing end, litchi has got a host of locals engaged during first half of the year. Dinajpur, which grows 60-70 percent of all the litchi grown in 16 northern districts, sees thousands of families living in 13 upazilas in the business.
However, Dinajpur Sadar, Biral, Birganj, Khansama and Ghoraghat upazilas are producing the most this year as they had a favourable weather during the February-March flowering season.
According to district horticulture department, about 3,000 orchards scattered over 2,000 hectares of land have been brought under commercial litchi cultivation this year.
Of them, 65 percent are growing Bombai, 30 percent Madraji while remaining five percent Bedana and China varieties.
Better communication with the capital and subsequent increase in demand has lured the local litchi farmers into bringing more areas under their coverage.
“With the rind still remaining green, buyers, chiefly from the capital, pour in and buy the litchis,” Shisnabi Mondal, a litchi farmer of Chirirbandar upazila, told The Daily Star.
As harvesting session began in May, clusters of litchis are first taken to local markets, abuzz with buyers from different part of the country.
Many traders from capital have their own depots in Dinajpur.
More than 60 percent of litchi have already been reaped, said Azam Uddin, a local litchi trader of Dinajpur.
At local markets, a 100-piece cluster of China-3 variety is sold between Tk 600 and 800 while Bedana at Tk 400 to 700. Madraji is less expensive, Tk 200 to 300, according to market sources.
Farmers in Dinajpur and adjoining districts are expecting a bumper production. But still a sense of discontent prevails as the production was marred to some extent due to rain in early and late April.
TMT Iqbal, a professor of horticulture at Hajee Danesh Science and Technology University, said introduction of organic technology for litchi production may bring a “revolution” for the growers and play an important role in earning foreign exchange.