It’s officially litchi season!

One of the attractions that summer brings is the variety of seasonal fruits. Fans of summer fruits rarely avoid litchi, a fruit that is available for a very short period.

Pabna's Ishwardi upazila is at the forefront when it comes to litchi production, as the fruit is distributed and marketed all across the country during summer from there.

Following the success of this year's production, farmers of Ishwardi organised a two-day litchi festival, displaying different varieties of the fruit on Thursday and yesterday. The festival was organised by Bangladesh Krishak Unnayan Society at Bangladesh Sugar Crop Research Institute.

Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque inaugurated the festival on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier, the minister visited different litchi orchards in Ishwardi.

"Farmers of Ishwardi have proven their success in cultivating litchi, guava, plum and other seasonal fruits in the last few years. However, they are mostly dependent on local markets. If companies invest in production and develop the technology, we can even send the fruits to the international market," said the minister.

Siddikur Rahman Moyez, president of Bangladesh Krishak Unnayan Society, said, "Litchi production has widely spread across the country due to the availability of suitable land and weather. Despite being a seasonal fruit, its production has been yielding massive profits to farmers."

"This traditional festival aims to promote Ishwardi's quality production of litchis," he added.

According to Dr Md Saiful Alom, deputy director of Pabna Department of Agricultural Extension, litchi was cultivated on a total of 4,731 hectares of land in Pabna. A production of 42,579 metric tonnes is expected, of which, 80 percent are of hybrid varieties, mainly cultivated in Ishwardi.

"Pabna's farmers are expecting to earn over Tk 500 crore from litchi production this year, most of the amount coming from Ishwardi," said Saiful.

The hybrid variety (China-3) was the main attraction of the festival. Among other varieties, China-2, Bombai litchi and Bedana litchi were displayed as well.