Litchi business has peaked in the Rangpur agriculture region where harvesting of the popular seasonal fruit is nearing completion with an excellent yield rate.
Hundreds of farmers are engaged in harvesting and marketing litchi amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts.
“Because of favourable climatic conditions, farmers are getting a bumper output of big-sized litchi this season,” said Deputy Director Bidhu Bhushan Roy of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
Farmers have cultivated litchi on 1,947 hectares of land, and the production might cross 20,000 tonnes worth Tk 180 crore this year.
“More than 95 per cent of litchi trees in orchards and homesteads bloomed massively this season in the region where the fruit formation process continued smoothly amid favourable weather conditions,” Roy added.
The DAE officials and market sources said harvest of the ‘Bombay’, ‘Mozaffarpuri’ and ‘Madrazi’ and China-2 variety litchi is nearing completion with plenty of supply and better market price, making both growers and traders happy this season.
The ‘Bombay’, ‘Mozaffarpuri’, and ‘Madrazi’ varieties are being sold at rates between Tk 180 and 200 for every 100 pieces while China-2 varieties at Tk 300 to 350 in the local markets.
However, the harvest of costlier varieties like ‘Bedana’, ‘Kanthali’ and China-3 has just begun, and the price for every 100 pieces of these superior varieties is between Tk 500 and 900.
Fruit traders Babu Mian and Fazlur Rahman at Rangpur City Bazar said supply of litchi remains high in the local markets following bumper production even after trading vast quantities of the fruit daily from the region to other areas.
Talking to BSS, litchi grower Hasanul Haque of Balapara Dilalpur village in Badarganj upazila of Rangpur said he has been cultivating litchi on a commercial basis in his orchard for the past 12 years and never incurred any loss.
“I’ve cultivated Madrazi and China-3 varieties of litchi in my orchard on four acres of land. I expect a bumper production of the fruit this season,” he said.
Farmers Shahidul Haque of nearby Balapara village and Mokhlesur Rahman of Osmanpur village in Badarganj upazila have cultivated Madrazi, Bombay and China-3 varieties of litchi in their orchards.
“As the harvesting process continues with an excellent yield rate, I’m expecting to get a bumper production of the fruit and earn desired profits,” said Shahidul Haque.
Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh and Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid said litchi farming on orchards has become popular among farmers and remained highly profitable for them than many other crops.
“Many farmers have changed their fortune through farming litchi as they generally earn Tk 1.50 lakh to Tk 2 lakh on an average per acre of land annually through litchi cultivation,” he said.
