Dinajpur spells bad news for litchi lovers

Litchi growers say that size and taste of season's most mouth-watering fruit depend on adequate rainfall and favourable weather. This photo shows small size of litchis in the tree at mature stage due to prolonged hot spell.Photo: STAR

Production of litchi in the northern region is likely to be less by 80 percent compared to the previous years due to prolonged dry spells during sprouting of season's most mouth-watering fruit.
Litchi growers and traders of the district have become upset experiencing less production of the delicious fruit this year. Farmers said they did not experience such fall in production of litchi in last one decade.
Though the rains have been lashed early this month in the district, the drought has already affected the litchi production, litchi traders and growers said.
Seventy to 80 percent buds of litchi in the region has been damaged due to absence of adequate rainfall. Farmers said the litchi trees were seen with full of buds but the production target seemed doomed by unfavourable weather.
M Nurul Islam, a litchi grower of Madhabbati village in Biral upazila of the district, observed that the litchi trees require a huge moisture after flowering but this year most litchi flowers were damaged as there was not enough rain since February that has marred the chance of bumper production.
Besides, the farmers of Mashimpur in Sadar upazila said they will get only about 20 percent litchi this year in comparison with last year. “Litchi production has been affected badly due to absence of rainfall," Jahangir Alam, a litchi grower of the village said.
They also said there is almost no litchi in the orchards this year, which had bumper production in the district last year.
The orchards, which are on forest and moisture-retaining sites at different upazilas of the district like Nawabganj and Ghoraghat, have an average good production, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials.
The production of the fruit is likely to drop significantly in the district due to lack of sufficient rainfall, they also observed.
Litchi production in the adjacent districts including Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Joypurhat is likely to be less than the previous years, DAE officials said. Only some higher varieties like Bombay, Bedana and Madragi have reported good production, farmers said.
Growers said they have experienced a new problem this year as the litchi flowers did not have enough rain while sprouting but in previous years the farmers used to spray water if they got less rain. This year they sprayed water on the trees but it became useless, they added.
Senior scientists and horticulturists claim that if the litchi orchards had rain during the sprouts, the production would be good this season.