Brahmanbaria farmers busy harvesting litchi

Litchi farmers of Brahmanbaria are currently busy with both harvest and trade of the fruit. A bumper yield and high market prices have made them happy this season.

The litchi of this district is famous throughout the country due to its taste and quality. The litchi orchards of the area have also turned into tourist spots as people regularly visit with their friends and families to spend leisure and buy fruit.

According to the Brahmanbaria Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), litchi has been cultivated on 567 hectares of land in the district this year.

DAE expects litchis worth Tk 24,61,50,000 will be sold in the district this season. Litchi is mostly cultivated in Bijoynagar, Akhaura and Kasba upazilas of the district.

Commercial cultivation of litchi started in Bijoynagar upazila in 2002. Farmers started turning the paddy fields into litchi orchards due to high profit and low production costs.

Domestic, cardamom, China-3, Patnai and Bombay varieties of litchi are cultivated in these orchards.

According to the local farmers, litchi orchards are leased several times over after fruiting. The first leasees are usually local moneylenders who later lease the orchards to traders.

Aulia Bazar is the biggest litchi market in the upazila. Besides, litchi is traded wholesale in several other markets including Merashani, Mukundpur, Kangkaira Bazar, Champaknagar, Singarbil Bazar, and Amtali Bazar in the upazila.

About Tk 20-25 lakh worth of litchi is bought and sold every day in various markets including the Aulia market of the upazila.

From these markets, traders from Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Narsingdi, Bhairab, Noakhali, Chandpur, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj, Feni and Dhaka buy litchi and export to different districts. Abu Hanif, a litchi farmer of Paharpur said, “I have been taking care of the trees since the beginning. After budding, pesticides and water should be applied under the tree. This year I cultivated 40 litchi trees on two kani of land.

His total production cost is about Tk 80,000 and he expects to sell litchi worth around Tk 10-12 lakh. He said that last year he sold litchis worth Tk 9 lakh.