FE Report
The Bangladesh Agricul-tural Research Institute (BARI) has taken an extensive programme to diversify lychee production in the country incorporating various high-yielding species including Rambutan at Malaysian origin.
In addition to the indigenous species of lychee, the Rambutan has a cost-effective cultivating impact on the economy. The species has been growing up rapidly in many countries in addition to Malaysia including Thailand, Philippines, India and Indonesia.
The Rambutan plant is as good as indigenous guava plant. It comes into fruition each year. It looks attractive for the redness of its thick skin. It is not so juicy but tasteful.
Its natural ingredients included protein carbohydrate, vitamins and mineral substances. It can grow in soils 500-600 feet above sea-level and it requires 80 per cent relative humidity against 27 Celsius temperature and annual rain of 182 centimetre. It grows abundantly in high organic soil with clay substances.
The BARI found in decade-long research that the soil of Bangladesh is suitable for Rambutan cultivation. The BARI has been conducting research on it since 1990. Its speciality is that this Malaysia beers fruits after the season of indigenous species is over.
Chief Scientist Moham-mad Abdul Haque carried a piece of Rambutan bud from Malaysia in 2001. He planted it himself in the BARI Research nursery. The plant has started to give fruit from last year. It has reproduced 100 pieces of fruits this year and of them 78 are ripe. BARI scientists expect that with aging the number of fruits would increase in future.
It blossoms in mid April and at the first week, the fruits ripen.
BARI takes programme to diversify lychee production
FE Team | Published: July 13, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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