Madrazi litchi has started appearing in Dinajpur's markets before its time. Although the fruit is sour and only half coloured, curious buyers are paying high prices for it. The agriculture department says it will take at least another 10 to 12 days for fully developed litchi to reach the market.

This was the picture across the town's markets on the morning of 11 May.

At New Market, Thana Mor, Bahadur Bazar and Pulhat, among other places, Madrazi litchi is selling at Tk 300 to Tk 320 per hundred. Buyers are paying the high price mainly out of curiosity for the season's new fruit, but they complain that the litchi is unripe and tastes sour.

Rana, a seller at New Market, said litchi had come to the market for the first time this year that day. "I am selling 100 litchis for Tk 300. Curious customers are buying this Madrazi variety."

Md Rakib Hasan, a seller at Thana Mor, said the litchi on the market was not yet mature, but he had brought it in to announce that litchi would be arriving soon. He said he would make a profit selling it.

A buyer named Akash said he could not resist the new fruit and bought 100 litchis. "But they are not ripe yet. They taste sour-sweet; they still need time. I took them anyway as a seasonal fruit."

Anichhuzzaman, assistant deputy director (crops) at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur, said the litchi now on sale is in no way mature and should not be eaten. Ripe, tasty litchi will take about another 10 to 12 days to reach the market, he said, adding that people need to be aware of the risks of eating immature fruit.

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