Litchi farming in Pirojpur has flourished in the last two decades due to its luring profit.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Pirojpur district sources, many farmers in the district switched from paddy cultivation to growing different varieties of seasonal fruits including litchi.
Farmers said they can cultivate paddy for only a year as the lands are very low-lying and remain inundated for most of the time of the year in the district. As such, paddy cultivation was not beneficial for them. So, they are now cultivating different seasonal fruits including jujube, mango, guava and litchi.
DAE Deputy Director Md Nazrul Islam Sikder said, “We have taken an initiative to expand fruit cultivation including litchi in Pirojpur as the land is fertile for the fruit. This year the fruit has been cultivated on 55 hectares of land in three upazilas of the district.”
Deputy assistant agriculture officers are regularly monitoring the fields to advise the farmers on the maintenance of Litchi farming, he also said.
Pankaj Kumer Boral, sub-assistant agriculture officer in Nazirpur, said in particular, litchi cultivation has become quite popular among growers in Pirojpur. Many are cultivating Mujaffarpuri and China-3 varieties of litchi successfully.
The fruit is a highly valued and popular fruit, so the farmers do not face any trouble in selling the harvest to buyers from different areas, he added.
Hangsapati Mistry and Himangshu Mistry, two brothers from Tarabuniya village under the upazila, said they began litchi cultivation first in the area. Later on, many others followed them to grow the delicious fruit.
It has been recently seen that not only Tarabuniya, but many villages in the upazila have become completely dependent on litchi farming.
Hangsapati Mistry said that the yield of litchi is increasing year by year. As the weather is not favourable this year, many fruits have fallen from the tree. Apart from that, the size is much smaller due to the lack of rain.
According to family sources, Hangsapati Mistry took a loan of Tk 2 lakh from the bank and also borrowed Tk 2.5 lakh from his relatives and built an acre of land for fruit cultivation. After that, he visited fruit orchards in different areas of the Mymensingh and Panchagarh districts and gained experience in fruit cultivation from the farmers there. First, he started with Kul cultivation. The next year he collected one hundred litchi seedlings from Dinajpur and planted them in the fruit orchard. After that, he never looked back.
He made a lot of money by selling litchi from his garden. Slowly transformed the one-acre orchard into three acres. And from this profit money, he bought two more acres of land and expanded the orchard. At present, Hangsapati has developed litchi and mango orchards on five acres of land. These orchards have 350 Muzaffarpuri and China-4 varieties of litchi and about 800 Amrapali and Mallika varieties of mangoes. He also has several varieties of litchi, malta and oranges in his garden.
Local litchi farmers said that traders from different regions and districts of the country come here to buy litchi because of chemical-free and organic methods of cultivation.
But litchi did not grow much due to intense heatwaves. Due to the lack of rain, the fruits are not growing and the flowers are blooming less. Fruit size is reduced. Wholesalers are buying from here and selling litchi in different areas at a good price. As the soil and climate of Nazirpur are suitable for litchi cultivation, the agriculture department has said that there is a possibility of growing more litchi orchards in future in this region.
It can be seen that most of the trees have bent under the weight of litchi. The sweet honey scent of litchi here and there. Bees crowded the branches of the tree.
Farmers and traders are busy collecting, sorting and packing litchi. These litchis are being sent to different parts of the country.
Abdul Malek, a wholesale litchi buyer of Swarupkathi, said that since the fruit is free from formalin, it has high demand among buyers. In the retail market, 100 litchis are easily sold at Tk 400 to Tk 450.
Local litchi trader Dulal Howladar said that the yield of litchi is good this year. They can get more profit by buying litchi from here. Because the travel cost is less.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Pirojpur Md Abul Hossain Talukder said the cultivation of fruits including litchi has been playing an important role in the local economy.
After meeting local demand, farmers can transport litchi to other areas of the country, he added.
He also said that the soil of this region is suitable for the cultivation of litchi and other fruits.
