Ishwardi representative As a result of the use of new technology, a record amount of litchi has been produced in Ishwardi. In this year, despite the hostile weather and various adversities, due to the use of various technologies by the farmers, litchi production has exceeded the target.
Local litchi farmers said, but due to disease and severe drought, although the size of litchi is small, the agriculture department expects to produce about 600 crores worth of litchi this year. Which is the first highest litchi production record in the country. Already around 30 thousand families of Pabna district have become self-sufficient by cultivating litchi. Litchi cultivation is gradually spreading in the neighboring districts as well.
According to Pabna District Agricultural Extension Directorate, different varieties of litchi have been cultivated in Pabna including Desi, Bombay and Chinese. The target for litchi cultivation this year was 3 thousand 100 hectares. However, about 200 hectares more land than the target has been planted in litchi gardens. The production target was 24 thousand 320 metric tons. Last year litchi was cultivated on 3 thousand hectares, producing 23 thousand 421 metric tons. 1 thousand metric tons more litchi will be produced this year than last year.
Locals said that Ishwardi and Pabna Sadar Upazila have the most litchi cultivation. Especially Ishwardi upazila is more suitable for litchi cultivation. In about 30 villages including Joynagar, Mirkamari, Jagannathpur, Chalimpur, Shahapur, Diyar Shahapur, Rooppur, litchi and litchi only. Ishwardi is now known as the litchi capital. Apart from this, about 15 villages including Ugragarh, Joardah, Hamidpur and Chatmohar and Atgharia upazilas have grown a lot of litchi. China-2, China-3 and Bombay varieties of litchi will take a few more days to reach the market. But in the midst of this, the buying and selling of high-quality litchi of the local variety is going on.
More than 25 thousand farmer families are associated with litchi cultivation in the district. But in Ishwardi its number is about 15 thousand. In the past 20 years, the farmers of that area have made huge profits by cultivating litchi, and every year at least 30 to 40 hectares of land are being set up for new litchi plantations. As the cost of production of this sweet fruit is less than other crops, the selling price is also very high, so the farmers are very profitable. A farmer in Jayanagar said that the total cost of production is 20%. Therefore, many farming families have become self-sufficient within 5 to 6 years by cultivating litchi on a small plot of land.
In addition to the areas where litchi was grown in Ishwardi, litchi is being cultivated in several new areas. Bilkada and Kamalpur are notable among them. A litchi farmer of Kamalpur said, now many litchi gardens have been developed on the banks of the Padma where only mas kalai was cultivated.
According to data from the Department of Agriculture and calculations by experienced farmers, there are 120 litchi trees per hectare. Among these trees, 80 trees produce 8 lakhs of litchis and 40 trees hold 5000 and 2 lakhs of litchis. That is, on an average, 1 million litchis are produced per hectare.
According to the market observation, per 100 litchis of domestic variety are sold at Tk 150 to Tk 175 and Bombay and Chinese litchi are sold at Tk 250 to Tk 300. Farmers sell at an average price of more than Tk 200 per 100 litchi from the end of the season. This year, litchi has been cultivated in about 3 thousand 100 hectares of land. According to this, more than 600 crores of litchi will be produced in Pabna district this season. Pabna Litchi will be available till the middle of next June.
Some litchi farmers said that due to hostile weather and heat, about 25 percent of litchis are falling from the trees. Because of that the yield will be a little less. Every day hundreds of farmers are harvesting litchi from the garden and selling it from the garden. They said that there are huge litchi markets in Maniknagar, Chalimpur, Jayanagar, Pakshi, Shimultala in Ishwardi every day. Apart from Joynagar Shimultala, there are wholesale litchi markets in Aotapara, Bansherbada, Jaynagar Boardghar, Sahapur's new market and Dashuria.
Local traders said that 60 to 70 trucks of lychee are going to different parts of the country including the capital Dhaka every day from these markets. And after a few days at least 100 to 150 trucks of litchi will be loaded from Ishwardi every day. These fruits are playing a helpful role in earning foreign exchange through exports by meeting the needs of the country.
Ketab Uddin Mondal, a litchi farmer of Mirkamari village, told reporters that he has cultivated litchi on about 50 bighas of land. He has been growing litchi in his garden for 10 years. This year, he expects to sell litchi worth around Tk 18 lakh from his 30 bigha garden. He demanded the government to set up a litchi conservatory and litchi research center in the area. Abdul Khalek, a lecturer in the same village, has planted a litchi garden on 13 bighas of land. There are 160 trees in this garden. He will earn around 3 lakh rupees. Khalek hopes that if he catches litchi from all his trees next year, he will sell litchi worth around Tk 4 to 5 lakh. Apart from this, he is expecting to earn about one and a half lakh taka every year by planting various vegetables, kachu, mugdal, turmeric as companion crops in the litchi garden. He also said that the cost of litchi cultivation is very low.
Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Officer Md. Khurshid Alam said that Ishwardi litchi is famous throughout the country. The soil here is so fertile that if litchi is cultivated in a modern and planned way, it will be possible to produce litchi worth about 1000 crore rupees from this area within the next 5 years. At the same time, employment opportunities will be created for a large number of unemployed youth. To exploit this potential, archival arrangements have become imperative. Because farmers are deprived of fair price due to lack of storage facilities. The farmers here have been demanding a litchi conservatory and research center for a long time. Local people think that the government initiative is necessary to maintain and expand the role that litchi plays in the country's economy.
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