"At the start of the season this year the temperature in Dinajpur reached 35 to 39 degrees. There was fog at dawn too. That scorched the blossoms, so the litchi yield is lower. Now storms and hail have started. All in all, the litchis are in bad shape."

That is how Advocate Zakir Hossain, a litchi grower from Mohabbatpur village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila, described his disappointment. Like him, most farmers in the district are now worried, fearing a smaller litchi crop because of the hostile weather.

"Last season the heatwave burnt the litchis. This time storms, rain and fuel are causing trouble. It's hard to say what will happen in the end," Zakir Hossain said.

Drought at the start of the season, a fuel crisis in the middle and finally nor'westers and hail: these three factors have raised fears of a fall in litchi production in Dinajpur this year. The promise that the district's sweet litchis showed early in the season has largely faded because of the bad weather.

The agriculture department, however, says the litchis have not been significantly damaged so far, so no damage figures have been prepared, and what loss has occurred is not worth mentioning.

Litchis will start reaching the market by 15 May. But with transport shortages and traffic congestion expected around Eid-ul-Azha, the main buying and selling this year will take place after Eid.

In the past few years hail and the Covid pandemic hit litchis hard. Growers' and traders' hopes were dashed as the fruit dropped. Last season, orchard owners and traders hoped to recoup several years of losses and make a profit, but the intense heatwave left burn marks and blemishes on the fruit, and they lost money again. This time the heatwave has not yet begun, but they are facing other natural setbacks.

Litchi growers in the district said they had pinned their hopes on the abundance of blossom early in the season and then on the fruit set. But drought and heat first began burning the blossoms, and then the young fruit started dropping. Rain in between stopped the fruit drop. From the last week of last month into this month, Dinajpur was hit by widespread storms and hail, causing heavy damage to the litchis.

They added that because of the oil shortage at the start of the season, growers could not irrigate their orchards adequately, which is another reason they are worried about yields.

Enquiries in Sadar, Biral, Chirirbandar, Khansama, Kaharol and Bochaganj upazilas, which are famous for litchi, found that hail has knocked fruit off the trees in many areas and many litchis are rotting. As a result, growers and traders who lease orchards fear disaster and losses 10 to 15 days before the fruit reaches the market.

Ratan Roy, a litchi grower in Biral upazila, told Jago News that litchis in his orchard are rotting and dropping, and there is no way to keep them on the trees. He said he will suffer a big loss this year.

Mofizul Islam, a litchi trader from the Rabipur area of Biral upazila, said he has bought orchards in Rabipur and Madhabbati. The orchards have Bombai litchis, but the fruit is splitting and dropping because of the hail. "I am trying to save the litchis by spraying various kinds of pesticide. I don't know what will happen in the end," he told Jago News.

Juel Islam of Ghughudanga village in Sadar upazila has a litchi orchard on three acres this year. He said yields are down, with production in his orchard falling to half of last year's. He told Jago News that because prices have risen, transport costs will go up this year, and so will the price of litchis. He said thousands of tonnes of litchis are wasted because there is no cold storage to keep them, and called on the government to act on this.

Moklesur Rahman of Madhabbati village in Biral upazila said: "Last year the litchis split and spoiled on the trees in the heat. This time they are being ruined by storms and rain. We will have to count losses on litchis again this year."

Abdur Rahman, who came from Karwan Bazar in Dhaka and bought a litchi orchard in Madhabbati, told Jago News: "Last time the litchis were scorched black by the heatwave. We had to sell 100 litchis for Tk 100. If the storms and rain continue this time, the litchis will rot at the stem."

"I hoped to make up last year's loss this time, but that hope has come to nothing. Now even holding on to my capital has become difficult," he said.

Mostafizur Rahman, additional deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur, said all necessary steps have been taken for proper litchi production. He told Jago News that Dinajpur's litchis have a reputation and are exported to various countries, and he hopes the district will get the expected yield this year too.

Nuruzzaman, deputy director of the DAE in Dinajpur, said: "The temperature is much higher this time. The ongoing heatwave is causing some damage to the litchis. Growers, orchard owners and traders are being given advice. There is plenty of litchi this year. There will not be much damage, because owners and growers are tending the orchards extensively."

According to the district DAE, litchis are grown on 5,484 hectares in the district this year, in 5,418 orchards, with production expected to reach 37,593 tonnes.

Md Anisuzzaman, additional deputy director (crops) at the department, told Jago News: "The storms and hail have not done much damage to the litchis. Roughly one to one and a half hectares of litchi have been ruined, which is not worth mentioning."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.