Litchi production slumps in Ishwardi

Mirazul Islam, a seasonal litchi trader in Pabna's Ishwardi upazila, spent Tk 8 lakh to buy 400 litchi trees, expecting to harvest at least 8 lakh litchis. However, as the harvest begins, the trees have borne no more than 4 lakh litchis.

"Most of the trees have only 300 to 500 litchis, some have around 1,000, while only a few trees have more than 5,000 litchis. This is the lowest production I have witnessed," he said.

"Last year, I harvested an average of 2,000 litchis per tree. This year, the average output will be less than 1,000 litchis per tree. After deducting the cost of harvesting, each hundred litchis would have to be sold wholesale at Tk 300 to make a minimum profit. Last year, the wholesale price was Tk 150-180 per hundred," he added.

Md Rakibul Islam, a litchi grower from Shahapur village under the upazila, shares a similar plight. 

"Of my more than 80 litchi trees, only around 8-10 bore fruits. The entire output will be barely around 5,000-6,000 litchis. This has been a devastating production slump. Traders are not showing interest in buying litchis from my orchard due to the poor output," he said.

Shajahan Ali Badsha, a litchi grower in the upazila, said this has been the worst production in his 40 years of growing litchis.

"Excessive heat during the budding stage adversely affected the production this year. Of my 600 trees, only around 40-50 bore fruit, and that too in minimal amounts," he lamented.

According to litchi growers and agricultural officials, around 20-30 trucks transport litchis from Ishwardi upazila to different parts of the country daily during the fruit's harvest time in mid-May every year. This year, however, the production has dropped so low that it has not even met the local demand.

Mita Sarkar, Ishwardi upazila's agriculture officer, stated that litchi cultivation was done across more than 3,000 hectares of land in the upazila, but production has been far below expectations.

"Ishwardi is the country's biggest hub for litchi production. Every year, we used to get a minimum of 400-500 crore litchis. This year, however, the total output is barely around 100 crore," she said.

"Most buds on trees withered due to hot spells and bad weather, causing the production slump," she added.

Growers in Chatmohar and Bhangura upazilas, however, have seen a bumper litchi harvest this year.

"Of my 20 litchi trees, around 10-12 bore 7,000-8,000 fruits each. I am expecting to harvest more than 1 lakh litchis. With the wholesale price of each hundred litchis at Tk 300, I expect to earn around Tk 3 lakh this season," said Rajiur Rahman, a grower from Chatmohar's Natun Bazar area.

According to sources from the Department of Agricultural Extension in Pabna, litchis were grown across 4,500 hectares of land in the district, with around 3,000 hectares in Ishwardi upazila alone, and the rest in Sadar, Atghoria, Chatmohar, and Bhangura upazilas.