The trees of Ishwardi upazila of Pabna are full of Litchi buds. Litchi pods have also appeared. After visiting the local litchi orchards it seemed that litchi production is much more increased this year than the last year. Already litchi traders start buying litchi orchard. And the buyers expect for better profit this year. Therefore, they have already started caring for the tree by working hard to keep the buds.
The local agriculture department here thinks that if the weather is favorable, litchi worth of Tk 225 to 250 crore will be sold in Ishwardi this time.
According to the Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Officer's Office, litchi is cultivated in 3,200 hectares of land in Ishwardi. The number of litchi gardens is 12,360. There are 2 lakh 52 thousand trees. Each tree holds 4 to 4.05 thousand litchis. Apart from this, in all the areas where litchi is cultivated, there are 2 to 4 litchi trees in the vita land adjacent to the house. The number of litchi trees increases every year. There are hundreds of litchi orchards in remote areas of Chhalimpur, Sahapur, Pakshi, Dashuria, Muladuli and Laxmikunda unions of the upazila. However, most of the litchi orchards are in Salimpur and Sahapur Union. Mozaffar and Bombay varieties of litchi are widely grown in Ishwardi, according to Agriculture Department officials. Talking to two or three litchi garden owners, it is known that most of the trees have litchi buds. Now the buds have started to grow. Litchi will be full soon after Eid-ul-Fitr. They think that if the litchi is full at the end of Ramadan and the weather is favorable, they will be able to sell litchi at a satisfactory price.
Shahin Sardar of Sahapur in the upazila, who owns 100 litchi trees said, "Each tree has more litchi buds this time than last year." The timing of litchi ripening is very important. Especially if the weather is favorable for litchi, both fruits and benefits can be obtained.
Imran Hossain, owner of 29 trees in Salimpur Union, also mentioned that the weather is favorable, adding that the production of paddy or vegetables depends on the weather. The same is true of litchi. Even if the buds are good, the next weather conditions will determine the yield.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Krishibid Mita Sarkar said Ishwardi litchi is famous all over the country. This time litchi is cultivated in 3,200 hectares of land in the upazila. If the weather is favorable for litchi cultivation, the yield will be good. She said that according to the number of litchi trees and the yield of litchi per tree, it is expected that litchi worth Tk 225 to 250 crore will be sold in Ishwardi this time.