When the month of Jyoishtha arrives, the picture changes in every village of Ishwardi in Pabna. Ripe, juicy lychees are everywhere. In lychee season, the festive mood in every home and the visits of relatives have become a joyful Bengali tradition. From mid-May to mid-June, ripe lychees of various varieties, including local and Bombai, are picked, sorted, counted and marketed, filling the whole area with cheer. This year the yield has doubled, adding a new dimension to the celebrations.

Orchard owners and growers say that relatives come from far and wide in lychee season to see the orchards and eat juicy lychees. Treating guests to the aroma and taste of ripe lychees has become a local custom, and there is also a tradition of giving lychees as a gift when guests leave.

During the season the whole family picks lychees from the trees, sorts, counts and packs them, sits together to eat them and walks round the orchards, creating a joyful atmosphere. Homes also prepare seasonal pitha cakes and other food for visiting relatives.

Abdul Hamid, a lychee grower in Jagannathpur village in the upazila, said: "Lychee is the main crop in our area. Lychee orchards cover 70 to 80 percent of the land here. When lychee season comes, our homes take on a festive mood. Sons-in-law and daughters, grandchildren, sisters and brothers-in-law and other relatives come to visit at this time. In our Ishwardi, the festive mood spreads as soon as lychee season comes."

Abdul Jalil Kitab Mondal, a farmer who has won a national award for lychee, told Jagonews24: "Everyone is happy because of the bumper lychee yield in Ishwardi this time. Every family and household is now in a festive lychee mood. People come from different regions to see the lychee orchards, and many are delighted to see the harvest, marketing and processing. Relatives have come to visit every home, and they are picking lychees from the trees with their own hands. The festivity has spread to every family."

Humayun Kabir Tarun, an orchard owner and schoolteacher, said: "Ishwardi is all about lychees now. Everyone is happy because the yield is good this year. Lychees have given friends and relatives the chance to get together. The roads, the orchards and every home in our area are in a festive mood."

Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdul Momin told Jagonews24: "Lychee has been grown on 3,100 hectares in the upazila this year, and there has been a bumper yield. We expect the yield to be three times higher this time. Farmers will also get good prices, and the bumper yield will bring them financial comfort."

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