Hailstorm shatters dream of Magura litchi growers

MAGURA, May 24: Litchi growers of the district are passing idle time during this pick harvesting season.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Magura, sources said trees in 2500 orchard were blossomed. But repeated hailstorms affected litchi production by 80 per cent.

Sources said growers were expecting to make a profit of Tk 200 million, but hailstorms have shattered their dream.

Farmers' sources said litchi is being cultivated in the district commercially from 1992. A good number of farmers have improved their financial condition by growing the juicy fruit.

At present about 20,000 people in the district are dependent on litchi farming for their livelihood.

Litchi is being sold at Tk 400 per hundred in the local market. It was Tk 300 last year.

Shafiqur Rahman, executive director of Palli Prokriti (an agriculture based NGO), said litchi cultivation has been turning fortune wheel of a good number of people in the district for about 10 years. Litchi cultivation has brought a positive change in social life of the people as well as in economic life. But the scenario has changed this season.

Cultivators urged the government to compensate the affected litchi growers so that they can recoup their losses.

Magura DAE official Partho Protim Saha admitted that hailstorm has caused heavy damage to litchi production in the district.

He further said the higher authority has already been informed about the matter.

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