Buying and selling of Mozaffar (deshi, or local) litchis has begun in Ishwardi, Pabna. A hundred litchis are selling for Tk 250–300. But compared with other years, the litchis are smaller and sourer this time.

At the Joynagar Shimultala litchi market in the upazila, growers and traders have brought local litchis to sell. But as Bombai litchis have not yet arrived, the market is not very crowded.

Aminul Islam, a litchi trader at the Joynagar Shimultala market, told Jago News that local litchis had been selling at the market for about a week, and more are arriving every day.

He said local litchis are small anyway, and this year they are even smaller, because of the severe drought and heatwave.

Mostafa Zaman Nayan, a litchi grower from Maniknagar village, said there had been a severe heatwave in Ishwardi for a whole month after the fruit set, with temperatures between 36 and 43 degrees. A week before ripening, as the litchis were turning yellow and reddish, the skins began to darken and crack. The fruit is smaller this year and the taste comparatively poorer.

National award-winning litchi grower Abdul Jalil Kitab told Jago News that the lack of rain had caused a litchi crop failure this year. The colour has faded, and many litchis are spoiling and cracking. "On Saturday I collected 50,000 litchis from the orchard. Of these, 10,000 had cracked and spoiled," he said.

According to the upazila agriculture office, litchis are grown on 3,100 hectares in Ishwardi this year. The varieties include Mozaffar (local), Bombai and China.

Ishwardi upazila sub-assistant agriculture officer Saifuddin Yahya said the Mozaffar variety cannot tolerate high temperatures. Growers had been advised on irrigation and pesticide use to protect the litchis from the severe heatwave, and those who irrigated regularly suffered somewhat less damage.

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